Uganda’s Chicago hero, Jacob Kiplimo, received back and highlighted his success at the Chicago Marathon as a resilience effort.
After Landing back at Last Night, the National Council of Sports arranged a breakfast event at Cooper Chimney on Wednesday, October 15, to welcome him back to Uganda.
Speaking at event, Kiplimo said, “It wasn’t just a race, because I myself, there was a point I asked myself whether I would finish. My body was asking to stop, but I remembered the support offered by Uganda Athletics, the government of Uganda, and fellow Ugandans. From there, I decided to be resilient and finish, even by the time I finished I didn’t know that I was the winner because my leg and the entire body was very tired.”
On Sunday, October 12, Kiplimo ran 2 hours, 02 minutes, and 23 seconds to win the Chicago Marathon, while setting a world seventh-best marathon time and a Uganda national record, surpassing his own 2:03:37 record he set in April this year at the London Marathon.
At the event, Kiplimo also called his time up for track, “By this honor, I am communicating to turn my focus on road running, call up my time on track. I have ambitions in the Marathon, and on top is to win the Olympic Marathon.”
The only Ugandan to win the marathon at the Olympic Games was Stephen Kiprotich (2:07:50 in 2012 London), and Kiplimo is looking to become the second.
At the event, National Council of Sports Assistant General Secretary Administration Joseph Oluga praised athletics and the power of sacrifice, saying,
“As the government arm of sports, we are proud of the sports industry and, exclusively, athletics. They have done a lot for this nation. This time, Kiplimo is our hero, and we believe the sky is the limit. For sure, winning this shows the power of sacrifice. Kiplimo chose to miss the World Athletics Championship in Tokyo in order to gain this success; in life, you always have to sacrifice to gain.”
Meanwhile, Uganda Athletics General Secretary Beatrice Ayikoru showed gratitude to NCS and the athlete as she called on the government for more support, saying,
“We are very thankful to NCS for the opportunity to face off against our champion, a champion at one of the major events of World Athletics, which has six major events, and Chicago is among the six. But also, I call on our government for more support. Athletics, we are among the darling sports disciplines in Uganda; at least, we are assured of success whenever we go at the international scene.”
Kiplimo will now take a short break rest before turning focus on defending the World Cross Country Championship in Florida, United States, on January 10.
