Ugandan athlete, Joshua Cheptegei clocked 27:27:23 to clinch gold in the 10,000m race at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, United States of America.
Sunday night produced double joy for Uganda as the Olympics gold medalist finished ahead of Kenya’s Stanley Waithaka Mburu (27:27:90) and countrymate, Jacob Kiplimo (27:27:97), who finished second and third respectively.
Ethiopia’s Selemon Barega came fifth behind American Grant Fisher who both missed out on the podium.
The greatest fireworks were in the final 400 meters when Cheptegei, who had led the pack for the largest patch holding on as Kiplimo had to sprint to come home in third place.
The two will not only fly back home from the championships with medals but also with fattened bank accounts resulting from their performances.
In first and third positions, Cheptegei and Kiplimo will enjoy $70,000 (UGShs263, 022, 340) and $22,000 (UGShs82, 664, 164) tax free prize money respectively.
Away from the money, Cheptegei’s win made him just the fourth man to defend the gold, having won it in Doha, 2019 as he finished 26:48:36 ahead of Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha and Kenya’s Rhonex Kipruto.
The unmatched athlete in the history of Ugandan sports joined the golden trio of; Haile Gebrselassie, Kenenisa Bekele and Mo Farah in achieving the feat.
