Japan and France win team gold in the men’s and women’s categories at the 2024 IAU 100 km World Championship in Bengaluru

On a day deemed warm by many overseas runners, the time taken by the winners to finish at the 2024 IAU 100 km World Championship in Bengaluru on Saturday, December 7, however impressed.

Winner in his gender category, Jumpei Yamaguchi of Japan led the men’s race from the start to the finish. He finished in 6:12:17, just seven minutes short of the 100 km-run world record of 6:05:35 set by Lithuania’s Aleksandr Sorokin in May 2023. At the last 100 km world championship held in 2022 in Bernau-Berlin, Germany, Yamaguchi had placed second in the men’s category with timing of 6:17:19. 

On Saturday, Floriane Hot of France defended her title securing a gold medal with a finish of 7:08:43. In 2022, she had clocked 7:04:03. Floriane was followed to the finish line by her compatriot Marie-Ange Brumelot who covered the distance in 7:12:22. Sarah Webster of United Kingdom finished in 7:19:18 securing the third position in individual women’s race.

Japan and France clinched the team gold medal in the men’s and women’s categories respectively at the 2024 IAU 100 km World Championship.

In the men’s team event, Japan emerged winner with combined timing of 19 hours, 30 minutes and nine seconds (the aggregate of the leading three runners in each team is computed to arrive at the combined timing; the winner is the team having the lowest combined timing). Spain (20:02:32) secured a silver medal while Great Britain & Northern Ireland (20:28:18) took the bronze.

In the women’s team event, France emerged winner with a timing of 22:27:05 followed by Great Britain and Northern Ireland (22:55:50) and USA (23:36:49).

The 2024 edition of the event took place at the sprawling GKVK campus on the outskirts of Bengaluru city. In the initial laps, three Japan male runners were leading but one of them fell back and two Spanish runners join the lead pack. Yamaguchi kept his lead and finished with a gold medal in his gender category. Antonio Jesus Aguilar of Spain finished second with timing of 6:25:54. More Japanese runners improved their position in the concluding laps and finished in third and fourth positions as well. Haruki Okayama, the defending champion, finished in third position with a timing of 6:37:54 and Toru Somiya of Japan finished in 6:39:58. At the 2022 edition of the event held in Bernau-Berlin, Haruki had won the men’s race in 6:12:10.

In the women’s race, Miho Nakata (world record holder in the 24 hour-run) of Japan was the initial leader followed by Sarah Webster of United Kingdom. A few laps later, Miho fell back and Sarah led all the way until the last few laps. Eventually, the French women (Floriane and Marie-Ange) took the lead and the first runner-up positions. Miho Nakata finished in fourth position with a timing of 7:25:52.

“ The route was beautiful with good tree cover. Though physically challenging, it was mentally satisfying,” Floriane said. Her compatriot Marie-Ange found the weather quite tough to handle. Sarah said she went too fast in the early stages of the race and that impacted her pace towards the end.

In the open category, Geeno Antony was the winner with timing of 7:55:39. Sugourav Goswami (8:23:42) finished second. In third position was Ankit Panwar (9:42:11). Though a bit disappointed with his timing, Geeno was otherwise happy with the outcome of the race.

Among Indian runners, Amar Singh Devanda, running as part of the national team, was the fastest finisher with a timing of 7:13, a new personal best. “ I went too fast in the initial laps of the race. By the end, I found it tough,” he said.

Vipul Kumar, who holds the national record for the 100 km (7:04:52 set at the previous IAU 100 km World Championship held at Bernau-Berlin in Germany), finished second among Indians with timing of 7:43:51. Binay Sah finished third (8:22:59).

Most runners said the weather was ideal at start but got very tough after the skies cleared and sun shone brightly. Runners were continuously reaching out for hydration, pouring water on themselves and covering their necks with ice packs to combat the heat. Against this backdrop, the timing reported by the likes of Japan’s Yamaguchi is genuinely impressive, a senior IAU official, arrived in Bengaluru to help oversee the event, said. According to him, the best team score to date has also been from Japan and the country had several victories to its credit in the team category.

(The authors, Latha Venkatraman and Shyam G Menon, are independent journalists based in Mumbai)