Cheptegei breaks Olympic record to win 10000m Gold
David GOMBE
Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei clinched the 10000m Olympic gold on Friday night to dethrone Ethiopia’s Selemon Barega at the Stade de France.
The three-time world champion surged to the Olympic title in a record time of 26min 43.14sec in what is probably his last 10000m race.
The 10000m final was incredibly fast, with the first 13 finishers all coming in under the previous Olympic record, that was set by the legendary Kenenisa Bekele at the Beijing games in 2008.
The victory sees Cheptegei seal his illustrious long-distance running career on track with the men’s 10000m Olympic title that he has craved for adding to his 5000m title he won in Tokyo three years ago as well as the silver in the 10000m.
He is also the only Ugandan in Olympic history to win three medals at the games.
Ethiopia’s Berihu Aregawi was second in a time of 26:43.44 while American Grant Fisher took bronze in a Season Best of 26:43.46.
Cheptegei’s compatriot Jacob Kiplimo who won bronze in Tokyo finished eighth in Paris while reigning Olympic champion Barega finished seventh in 26:44.48.
Uganda has now managed 12 medals in Olympic games history, seven of these including all the five golds coming in athletics.