Three-time world champion Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo will be among the headline makers this week at the Olympics, when the 10,000 metres race takes centre stage at the Stade de France this Friday, August 2.
Consequently for most Ugandans, a gold medal is expected home with a podium finish being the worst-case scenario. At the last Olympics in Tokyo, Cheptegei and Kiplimo finished with silver and bronze respectively. It proved to be an anticlimax especially because Cheptegei went into the games as favourite to win both the 10,000 and 5,000 metres.
Cheptegei eventually won the gold in the 5,000 metres, which although it was such a fine feat, it is said that in the athlete's heart of hearts, he preferred that had been the case in the longer race. The presumption at the moment is that Cheptegei, more than anything, is desperate to write the record straight, once he gets on track this weekend while carrying all the burden of expectation from home.
However, the question that is abound, is whether either of Cheptegei or Kiplimo is a guarantee for gold one way or the other, this weekend.
For sure, Cheptegei and Kiplimo will be favourites. Their recent record suggests that. Cheptegei won this race at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, USA (27:27.43) in 2022, and last year in Hungary (27:51.42).
Yet, since then, Cheptegei has not competed in the same distance due to the injuries he suffered thereafter. In one of his preparatory races for the Olympics, Cheptegei ran in Oslo, Norway during the Diamond League event there in the 5,000 metres. That was in May. He finished ninth in a time of 12:51.94.
Perhaps that was not the most encouraging of results, but since it was Cheptegei's first run since returning from injury, observers believe he was building up steam; trying to lift up the body for this time. Benjamin Longiros, the national athletics coach, said in a recent interview that although Cheptegei had not won big races this year, he remained upbeat about his prospects at the Olympics.
Longiros said: "This is not going to be the first time Cheptegei, 27, goes for major games, while many Ugandans harbour a bit of doubt about his physical state and ability to win. You see, the thing is that Cheptegei goes into the Olympics with a fresh body, and that is significant to have the endurance to win."
According to Longiros, in a year where there is a major athletics event, it is crucial that the body does not take so much load going into major competition, because it will get tired. In that case, Longiros believes Cheptegei is in a good position to win because he will have the lasting power, largely because he has had a few races heading into the Olympics, as he largely concentrated on training and getting his body fit.
In the same breath, Kiplimo, 23, whose last 10,000 metres race happened to be at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in the month of August, which he won in 27:09.19, has also had injuries to contend with. In fact, he missed last year's world athletics championships because of injury. Yet, Kiplimo has appeared to be in better shape than his counterpart Cheptegei lately.
Like Cheptegei, Kiplimo competed in the Diamond League 5,000 metres race in Oslo in May, finishing third in 12:40.96, eleven seconds ahead of his compatriot. However, Longiros believes that for Uganda to win gold this time, both Kiplimo and Cheptegei have got to work together during the race.
The duo did that at the Tokyo Olympics, but Longiros felt that they messed up on the tactics. Longiros said: "Once Cheptegei opened up and got onto the outside lane, behind Selemon Barega of Ethiopia, who won the race, Kiplimo needed to have joined him to maintain the tempo in order to burn out the Ethiopia. But instead, Kiplimo remained locked in the first lane, which, before they knew it, Barega was away."
No doubt, that race must have taught Cheptegei and Kiplimo quite a lot as they prepare for the run this Friday. But at the same time, they must know that their field is full of tough competition. The best 10,000 metres runner this year has been Yomif Kejelcha from Ethiopia, who recorded a time of 26:31.01.
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In 2021, Kiplimo ran a time of 26:33.93 in an event held in Ostrava, Czechia while Cheptegei's best time in this race was a 26:11.00 registered in October 2020, when he set a world record in Valencia, Spain. Notably, this will not be the first time that Cheptegei particularly goes into a major event with some doubt about his recent form.
Yet, he has gone ahead to blow the form book out of the window. Such was the case going into the last two world athletics championships, both of which he won.
In a nutshell, while Cheptegei and Kiplimo are headliners this week because of their impressive performances on the world stage, other Ugandan athletes: Jesse Ssengonzi (100 metres butterfly), Martin Kiprotich (10,000 metres), Halimah Nakaayi (800 metres world champion in 2019), Joy Cheptoyek (5,000 metres), Esther Chebet (5,000 metres), Peruth Chemutai (3,000 metres steeplechase), Belinda Chemutai (5,000 metres) and Charles Kagimu (Cycling) are all in action this weekend.
