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Joshua Cheptegei, who aims to be one of the world’s greatest 10,000m runners, is on the right track. Pipped to overtake Mo Farah and Kenenisa Bekele soon, the Uganda-born runner has, over the recent past, got rid of many chinks in his armor.
Set to take part in his first Diamond League race of the season in Florence, Joshua Cheptegei is well on course to fulfill his great dream.
Football’s loss is athletics’ gain
Joshua Cheptegei was brought up in the hilly village of Kwoti, in Kapchorwa, Eastern Uganda. Like the majority of kids in his region, Joshua Cheptegei was hooked to the game of football. He also started showing an interest in athletics – long jump and triple jump – when in school.
It was his friend and now local coach, Benjamin Njia, who encouraged him to take up athletics as he was impressed with Cheptegei’s endurance.
Read: Letesenbet Gidey breaks two-day old world record in women's 10,000m
Nija’s words came true when Joshua Cheptegei won his first gold medal in the 10,000m at the 2014 World Juniors in Eugene, 10 years after taking up athletics.
The loss that motivated Joshua Cheptegei
It was discovery – discovery and recovery of his potential, as he puts it - that has made him one to watch out for.
It was a major physical setback in 2017 which helped Joshua Cheptegei turn a corner. At the World Cross Country Championships, the Ugandan was in the lead for the entire race, but his body gave up due to the heat and humidity in the last 800m, and he could only muster a 30th-place finish. His almost embarrassing finish went viral on social media.
Although Joshua Cheptegei was humiliated, he was also sympathized with by many. He shut off from the world for several weeks and slowly started to recover his potential.
Months after the infamous World Cross Country Championship, Joshua Cheptegei took part in the London Athletics World Championships. It was an event where he ranalongside 10,000m legend Mo Farah and the Ugandan almost managed to steal Farah’s thunder with a blistering race.
Also read: How do you beat Mo Farah?
Cheptegei was hot on Farah’s heels, and although he missed out on the gold narrowly, he caught the attention of the world.
After every race, Joshua Cheptegei made sure he took some time out to rediscover his spirited ambition. And once it became a habit, there was no looking back. Joshua Cheptegei won double gold in long-distance running at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and won Uganda’s first World Cross Country title with a splendid race in Denmark a year later.
He finished a top-notch season with a 10,000m gold at the Worlds in Doha along with a 10km road race world record clocking 26:38, bettering the old record by six seconds.
Joshua Cheptegei had just three outings in 2020 and has made it count every bit by breaking three world records. By rewriting a 15-year-old world record in the men’s 10,000 meters with a time of 26:11.00, Cheptegei finished last season on a high.
When Joshua Cheptegei will race at this season’s first Diamond League in Florence on June 10 and subsequently at the Tokyo Olympics 2021, his dream of becoming one of the legends of long-distance running may cease to be a dream soon.
