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KAMPALA, Sept.9 (Xinhua) – Ugandan star athlete Jacob Kiplimo won the men’s 5,000-meter race on Tuesday, beating Selemon Barega of Ethiopia at the Ostrava Golden Spike in the Czech Republic.
This victory came weeks after another Ugandan star, Joshua Cheptegei, broke the 5,000-meter world record of 16-year-old Ethiopian legend Kenenisa Bekele in the coronavirus-hit Diamond League restart in Monaco, France.
Cheptegei clocked 12 minutes 35.36 seconds to conquer Bekele’s previous best record of 12: 37.35 that was set in 2004.
In February, before the coronavirus outbreak in Europe, Uganda had set a world road record of 5,000, also in Monaco.
“It took me a lot of mental determination to stay motivated this year because a lot of people stay home, but you have to stay motivated. I pushed myself, I had the right staff with me, the right coach,” he said. “I also usually live in Europe, but being in Uganda with my family was really cool.”
Cheptegei is already the 10,000-man world champion and the 2019 world cross-country champion.
Cheptegei and Kiplimo are just a portion of the top tier of athletes the East African country has to offer.
Over the years, Uganda has been a rising star in the world of long-distance running, poised to join the table of countries with world-class long-distance runners like neighboring Kenya and Ethiopia.
At the 2012 London Olympics, Stephen Kiprotich won the Ugandan gold in the marathon race. It brought back the ‘sweet memories’ of the 1972 Munich Olympics, where John Akii Bua won gold in the marathon race.
Uganda’s journey to stardom has been long and full of trials and tribulations, according to analysts.
Sports fan David Kimuli told Xinhua in a recent interview that despite the few resources invested in sports, local athletes continue to show that much more can be achieved if more is invested.
“The government should invest more in sports so that more medals are won and the country gets a good record,” Kimuli said.
Jackie Nakiyingi, another sports fan, argues that recent victories are testament that Uganda has the potential to do even better.
Like Kimuli, Nakiyingi argued that the government needs to invest more in sports.
Training sometimes without proper equipment such as shoes, many athletes in Uganda persevere with the focus on winning a medal one day.
Those with financial capabilities cross over to neighboring Kenya to train alongside the country’s giants in the sport.
Government support for athletics has also increased. For example, the government, despite the COVID-19 lockdown, facilitated the journey of a team of athletes, led by Cheptegei, to travel to Monaco for the Diamond League.
The country’s president’s office over the years began to reward athletes who won medals on the international stage. They are given a motivation token of $ 1,350 for a gold medal, $ 850 for a silver, and $ 500 for a bronze. This is paid monthly once an athlete wins a medal at any international event.
The government is also building a modern high-altitude training center in Bukwo, in the eastern part of the country. He believes that once the installation is finished by the end of this year, the country will win more medals. Final product
