Ten years on from winning a gold medal in the 10,000-meters at the World Junior Athletics Championships, Joshua Cheptegei has underlined his status as Uganda’s greatest ever athlete.
Cheptegei charged to victory at Paris 2024 in an Olympic record time of 26:43.14 to banish the ghosts of his silver medal in the event three years earlier in Tokyo that had haunted him since.
“I can’t describe the feeling. I’ve wanted this for a long time. When I took silver in Tokyo 2020, I was disappointed. I just wanted to win the 10,000m,” Cheptegei said after his record-breaking feat at the Stade de France.
It was a remarkable race in which the top 13 runners all came in under the previous Olympic record that had stood since 2008, the quick track making for an incredible spectacle.
Cheptegei won gold in the 5,000m in Tokyo but craved the 10,000m title and becomes the first-ever Ugandan to be Olympic champion in the longer distance.
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He had lost out to Ethiopia’s Selemon Barega in Tokyo, but in a supremely quick race, the latter could only manage seventh in Paris.
Barega’s compatriot Berihu Aregawi claimed the silver medal this year, just 0.3 seconds behind Cheptegei after leading for large parts of the race before being hauled in at the end.
“We had a team strategy to push the pace and we showed great teamwork. I am very sad we did not achieve the gold medal as a team,” Aregawi said. “I was running for my country and I want to dedicate this silver medal to my country.”
Cheptegei is now Uganda’s undisputed Olympic king with three medals – two golds and a silver – and may not be done yet. He is also competing in the 5,000m, where he will seek to retain the title he won in Tokyo.
He is the world record holder with a time of 12:35.36 set four years ago, but not the quickest this year. That honor goes to Ethiopia’s Hagos Gebrhiwet in a time of 12:36.73 in May.
The 5,000m final will take place on Saturday.
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