By: Ronald Kintu
Legendary long-distance runner Joshua Cheptegei has one name that gives him nightmares, Jacob Kiplimo.
While the world bows for the Olympic gold medalist and holder of various global records, back inside his yard, Uganda, Kiplimo has no respect for him.
This healthy rivalry has seen the Pearl of Africa have more than one runner on the podium in the same race for years and it was evident again over the weekend.
To be precise, it is now six years and counting of rivalry but, the man who has enjoyed this friendly fire more is Kiplimo especially in road races.
On Saturday, the youngster won the senior men’s 10km title at the 44th World Cross-country Championships in Bathurst, Australia to bag his fifth global championship medal.
Team leader Cheptegei who is slowly getting back to his best from an injury finished with a bronze medal behind Ethiopian Berihu Aregawi.
“Kiplimo’s career is incredibly illustrious. Probably, Cheptegei has won more global titles but for championship medals, Kiplimo is on a row and also here for a long haul,” Senior Athletics Writer Allan Darren Kyeyune described him.
Remember when Cheptegei ran in italics at Kololo Independence Grounds? Well, Kiplimo won gold that day and he has been picking medals every year since then.
Kiplimo immediately became a threat to the king of long-distance Cheptegei and defeated him at the 2020 World Half-Marathon Championship in Gdynia, Poland.
In training sessions and national trials, it has been the same case and this created a rift in the Team Uganda camp ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Luckily enough, it gave birth to three medals from the two.
Fast forward, with a Commonwealth double last year, an Olympic Bronze medal and many more other titles, the younger runner with a fine final kick wants his name to be written in bold like that of Cheptegei.
As a Ugandan, this is the kind of rivalry that keeps me hopeful of two podium finishes in the same race whenever Team Uganda flies out with the two names on the team.
Courtesy Photos
