Cheptegei and compatriot Kiplimo at the 2020 Tokyo Games
David GOMBE
Uganda’s long-distance duo of Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo will miss this year’s World Athletics Championships due in Japan’s capital Tokyo.
The event that represents the highest level of senior international outdoor athletics competition for track and field athletics globally, including marathon running and race walking this year will be held from September 13th to 21st.
Uganda’s best long-distance running duo will miss the championship due to personal reasons.
Cheptegei is the reigning World champion over the 10000m race and has also previously won the title in 2019 in Doha and 202 in Oregon.
His triumph in Budapest 2023, saw him become the fourth man in history to win the title three times in a row.
The others are Great Britain’s Mo Farah, Ethiopian duo of Haile Gebrselassie and Kenesia Bekele.
After his Olympic triumph over the 10000m, Cheptegei confirmed that he will not be running the track again to concentrate on Marathon races.
Kiplimo is the reigning World Half Marathon champion and the record holder over the distance.
At the Oregon Worlds, Kiplimo scooped bronze finishing behind compatriot Cheptegei and Kenya’s Stanley Waithaka Mburu.
Kiplimo is also the reigning 10000m and 5000m Commonwealth champion. He is also a two time World Cross Country champion.