Mike Powell named brand ambassador of Kolkata 25K run

Kolkata, Oct 24 (PTI) World long jump record holder Mike Powell was today named the brand ambassador of Tata Steel 25K, which will witness participation from top international runners for the first time.

The two-time former world champion and Olympic silver medallist will be in the city for four days and will promote the event, to be held on December 17.

Top runners from Kenya, Ethiopia will be seen in action in the elite 25K run, which will offer a prize purse of USD 100,000.

The organisers are expecting that the number of participants will cross 10,000 this time.

"It is absolutely exciting for me to be the first event ambassador for the Tata Steel Kolkata 25K. India is a beautiful country and I had the good fortune of visiting the country thrice, but to come to Kolkata, the cultural capital of the country and the city of Mother Teresa, is special," said Powell.

"I hope my presence is an added motivation to all the participants and would like to wish everyone good luck," the 53-year-old American said in his message.

Former India cricket captain Sourav Ganguly, who is the face of the event, said: "There's a start to everything. It's a start of an international event. Every year it is going to get better and better.

"I don't see in anyway this is inferior to any other competition. It looks brilliant. This year it's going to be bigger."

Registration for the event will go live at 7am tomorrow and can be done online at tsk25.procamrunning.in