World record holder Cheptegei upstaged in local track race in Uganda

Cheptegei upstaged in local track race in Uganda

JOHANNESBURG, April 26 (ANA) – Double world record holder Joshua Cheptegei tasted a rare defeat on home soil, in the Ugandan Athletics Federation (UAF) Trials at Namboole stadium, in Kampala, over the weekend.

The Ugandan Cheptegei holds the world records in 5000m and 10 000m, marks he set last year, competed in the men’s 1500m at the event and had to settle for bronze behind Ronald Musagala.

Having upstaged Cheptegei, Musagala who took victory in 3:36.63 said: “I feel good. I’ve never run a 3:36 here. It’s been long since I ran like this in Namboole.”

Cheptegei, however, managed a personal best time of 3:37.36.

“It was good. I enjoyed it. It was a very good experience,” said Cheptegei.

Cheptegei’s Dutch coach Addy Ruiter said: “Conditions were not so easy but it was a good test for both, The speed is really necessary for Joshua, especially for the 5000m in Tokyo.”

Cheptegei set a world 5km road record in his first race of 2020 back in February in Monaco, and that set the tone for a phenomenal year for the 24-year-old.

He went on to break two more world records in 2020, setting new standards for the 5000m and 10,000m, before rounding out his season with a 59:21 clocking at the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020 in his debut at the distance.

With the rescheduled Olympics set for Tokyo in July and August – Cheptegei will be the favourite in both the men’s 5000m and 10 000m.

That will be in stark contrast to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games – when Cheptegei was relatively unknown, but still produced admirable results as a teenager. In Rio he finished eighth in the 5000m and sixth in the 10 000m.

If Cheptegei were to collect his first Olympic medals in both events, quite possibly gold in hue, it would mean he has double world records, double Olympic gold to go with his 2019 10 000m World Championship victory. – African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Michael Sherman