Following his 10,000 metres triumph last Friday, August 2 in the Paris Olympics, Joshua Cheptegei is not expected to run on track again.
A communication yesterday confirmed that he was also pulling out of the the 5,000 metres race, whose heats were slated for today. Citing fatigue, also his compatriot, Jacob Kiplimo, who finished eighth in the 10,000 metres race last week, also pulled out, leaving his brother, Oscar Chelimo as Uganda's sole representative in the 5,000 metres race.
However, while many were expecting to see Cheptegei run on track for the last time this week, as he had already stated, questions remain on whether it is not too early for the two-time Olympics champion to quit track.
At 27, Cheptegei is in his prime, yet by the time the next Olympics come around in 2028, he will be 31. That is still young. And considering that former Olympics 10,000 metres champion, Britain's Mo Farah won his second gold aged 33 in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, Cheptegei would surely still have a lot left in the tank to spare.
Besides, it would be fitting for Cheptegei to join the illustrious group of two-time 10,000 metres champions, who remain Haile Gebrselassie (1996 and 2000), Kenenisa Bekele (2004 and 2008), and Mo Farah (2012 and 2016). At the moment, Cheptegei has won the 10,000 metres and 5,000 metres once a piece at the Olympics.
Godwin Byamukama, an athletics coach and manager at Tartan Burners Athletics Club, however, noted: "We must understand that Cheptegei would like to bow out on his terms, and on a high as it is. He has been successful for the last decade on track. And maybe what remains of him now, is wanting to pave way for the younger athletes, to follow in his footsteps."
With Cheptegei holding the 10,000 metres world record of 26:11.00, and now the Olympics record, following that 26:44.48 time last Friday, changing his mind to be around in 2028 may prove hard. Someone else, surely, will have to take over from him.
IS THAT KIPLIMO?
Incidentally, Jacob Kiplimo had run a good race last Friday, as he shadowed Cheptegei in almost similar fashion as he had done in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He looked a shoo-in for a podium finish. Yet, he fizzled away in the final bend, which seemed uncharacteristic of him.
It is not clear what happened to Kiplimo. And by his standards, finishing eighth was simply an anti- climax to the great expectations. Some actually felt that going into the 10,000 metres race last week, he posed the greatest threat to Cheptegei's aspirations. At the last Olympics, he finished with bronze, while Cheptegei finished with silver.
Yet, what is actually more ironic, when he finished third in the 2020 Olympics, Kiplimo ran 27:43.88. This time, he was actually faster, finishing the race in 26:46.39. This is surely not an easy situation to decode.
But Byamukama said there was no reason to worry about Kiplimo. At 23, he is still young, with a lot to achieve.
"On Friday, he was just involved in a very fast race, and maybe by staying behind too long, he could have miscalculated. By the time he had to make the dash for it, the people at the front just could not be caught."
Just as Cheptegei won both the 5,000 and 10,000 metres races at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, a feat that pushed him to where he is now, in the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Kiplimo completed the double. He did this on the back of winning bronze at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, USA in the 10,000 metres.
So, Kiplimo's recent setback may well prove to have been a flash in the pan. On the other hand, 22-year-old Chelimo's best time this year has been 12:54.59. The 2022 World Athletics Championships 5,000 metres bronze medalist is due a top performance. And with Cheptegei and his brother Kiplimo out of it, this is his chance to steal the headlines.
UNPREDICTABLE MARATHON
The 2012 Olympics marathon gold medalist, Stephen Kiprotich remembers too well how he went into that race largely unfancied. The same cannot be said of his counterpart, Victor Kiplangat, who while he has a showdown with some of the big names of the sport such as Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge, he is the reigning Commonwealth and World Marathon champion.
That should put some pressure on Kiplangat, but Kiprotich, who promised to call him and provide some encouragement, noted: "He is ready, and has done it before. He just has to go out there and give his best. Marathons are hard to predict, but Kiplangat has proved that he is good."
In May, when Kiplangat, 24, ran his last marathon, which was in Tokyo, he finished fifteenth, while Kipchoge, 39, was tenth. The competition with the likes of Benson Kipruto, and Timothy Kiplagat, both of Kenya, is expected to be stiff. So should it be for the women's contingent of Stella Chesanga, Rebecca Cheptegei and Mercyline Chelangat, aiming to be the first Ugandan women to win an Olympic marathon.
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Wednesday, August 7: 800 metres @12:55pm Tom Dradriga 5,000 metres @12:10pm Oscar Chelimo
Friday, August 9: 10,000 metres @9:55pm
Joy Cheptoyek
Sarah Chelangat
Annet Chelangat
Saturday, August 10: Marathon @9am
Victor Kiplangat
Stephen Kissa
Andrew Kwemoi
Sunday, August 11: Women's Marathon @9am
Stella Chesang
Mercyline Chelangat
Rebecca Cheptegei
