By our reporter
Apparently, long distance runner Joshua Kiprui Cheptegei is the talk of town after winning two gold medals at the ongoing Common Wealth Games 2018 in Australia.
He scooped the two medals in men’s 5000m and men’s 10,000m finals.
Who is Cheptegei?
Born in Kapchorwa on 12 September, 1996 (21 years)– the second eldest of nine siblings – Cheptegei proved his rare ability when in his first international race he placed second to double World Half-Marathon and Cross Country champion and fellow NN Running Team member Geoffrey Kamworor at the 2014 TCS World 10km in Bangalore.
A little over two months later he further cemented that potential by romping to the World U20 10,000m title in Eugene, Oregon to announce his arrival on the international championship stage.
After a stint training in Kaptagat, Kenya Joshua further revealed his versatility in 2015 by ninth in the 10,000m final at the Beijing World Championships and setting a Ugandan 10km record of 27:50 in Berlin.
In 2016 he placed eighth and sixth in the Olympic 5000m and 10,000m finals, respectively and set national records on the road over both 5km (13:24) and 10km (27:46).
In 2017,he led the men’s senior race at the World Cross Country Championships for much of the race in front of his exuberant home fans in Kampala until, unfortunately, blowing up in the latter stages and finishing 30th.
However, he shrugged off the disappointment to bounce back and set track PB’s over 3000m (7:34.96), 5000m (12:59.83) and 10,000m (26:49.94) – the latter time recorded when winning World Championships silver in London behind British endurance icon Mo Farah.
Additional information from NN running team
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