Nicholas Kimeli and Irene Cheptai of Kenya, will be aiming to defend their titles as 2023 TCS World10km   Bangalore get underway on Sunday, May 21.

However, the duo will face tremendous challenge.

Ethiopia's Dera Dida, the  2019 World Cross Country Silver medalist and her compatriots Tsehay Gemechu will face off with Cheptai. Gemechu was runner-up, in this year's Tokyo marathon and she is currently ranked the second fastest marathoner in 2023 in a time of 2:16:56

The Men line-up, is headline by 2023 Generali Berlin half marathon champion, Sabastian Sawe. The 27-year-old Kenyan is fresh from winning Adizero Road to Records 10km last month in Germany. 

The presence of Gamechu Dida of Ethiopia, who won Lille 10km (France) in March will make the race even more exciting. Marathoners are nor left out either  - Birhanu Legese (ETH) and Stephen Kissa(UGA) will be testing their speed in the capital city of India's Karnataka state.

That said, the little known Hillary Chepkwony Kipchirchir, will give the big boys a run for their money.

Chepkwony was in Kenya's reserve team, in the 10km Senior men in this year's World Cross Championship. 

The 2023, Venloop half marathon champion, trains under NN Running Team in Kaptagat.

 The bar set by Eliud Kipchoge, Geoffrey Kamworor, and the rest of the team, will motivate the upcoming superstar in upcoming Great Bangalore 10km.