At the Hayward Field stadium in Eugene, Oregon, Uganda’s Joshua Kiprui Cheptegei produced one of the most brilliant tactical displays on the track to retain his world 10000m title.
KAMPALA | NOW THEN DIGITAL — Uganda Joshua Cheptegei has retained his 10,000m world championships gold medal. He ran 64 laps and 63 seconds to win gold in the event.
- Cheptegei is the current world champion in the men’s 5000 and the 10,000m distance races. He has the distinction of being the first athlete to hold both the 5000m and 10000m world records in the same year.
- In addition to winning the 10,000m title in Oregon, Cheptegei was also the silver medalist at the 2016 Summer Olympics and the World Cross Country Championships.
- He has also competed at several games, including the London Olympics and the 2008 Beijing Games, where he placed ninth.
- Read also: A statue honoring Nelson Mandela has been unveiled at Namboole Stadium by Airtel Uganda.
An act of sweet revenge was gained over Ethiopia’s Selemon Barega, who beat him to the Olympic gold in Tokyo last year.
Read on to learn about Cheptegei and his achievements.
Cheptegei defends 10,000 World Championships gold medal
A sizzling final lap from Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei on Sunday secured the world 10,000 metres gold for his second consecutive time, highlighting his status as the sport’s leading distance runner.
Cheptegei, who holds the world record for over 10,000m, kept his powder dry until the bell.
He was outkicked by Selemon Barega in Tokyo, but began upping the ante once he was over a kilometer from the finish.
He ran laps of 64 and 63 seconds to stretch the field of eight as he touched the bell.
Cheptegei had a masterclass final lap, clocking a time of 27:27.43 to win the gold medal. He finished ahead of fellow Kenyan Stanley Waithaka Mburu and Grant Fisher.
The final lap was a tense one, but Cheptegei hung on to win by a few seconds. He beat out Mburu for the lead, and he was followed by fellow Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo.
American Grant Fisher finished fourth.
He is a long-distance runner
The Uganda distance runner Joshua Kiprui Cheptegei produced one of the most brilliant tactical displays on the track to retain his world 10000m title at the Hayward Field stadium in Eugene, Oregon.
With his dazzling performance, Cheptegei has exhausted the superlatives that can be applied to him. He is a truly alien talent, as his ever-sweet script writes.
The Ugandan runner has been a mainstay in track and field since his breakthrough in the cross-country race at the 2017 World Cross Country Championships (London).
He led for over six miles before collapsing in the final mile. He then went on to win the 10,000m event at the 2019 Cross Country World Championships (Aarhus, Denmark).
He also was a major figure in the saga surrounding the use of Nike Vaporfly running shoes. Some rumors have said the shoes were giving runners an unfair advantage and they are now banned from competitions.
The race’s pace was moderate throughout the race, with only two runners accelerating significantly in the final lap. The pack passed the halfway mark in 14:01, which is around 28 minutes.
Then Kiplimo charged to the front, claiming the lead with a lap-time of 64 seconds. Later, Cheptegei surged into the first turn of the final lap and held off the rest of the field.
Cheptegei is the fastest man
Ugandan athlete Cheptegei has retained the world 10000m title by winning the final in Eugene. He controlled the race from half way and hit the front at the bell.
Cheptegei is the fastest man in history, not just at the 10,000m but at the 5000m and 5,000m. He also won the title in Doha three years ago.
The 5000m and 10,000m races were incredibly close, with Barega running on Cheptegei’s shoulder with two hundred and fifty meters left.
However, Barega had no chemistry with Cheptegei and the final lap.
With laps of 64 and 63 seconds, Cheptegei stretched a group of eight as they rang the bell to retain the 10,000m world title.
Last year, Cheptegei was beaten by Ethiopia’s Selemon Barega, but this year he topped his predecessor and became the world’s fastest man.
Photos of Cheptegei at World Athletics Championships 2022
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