Ugandan star long distance runner Joshua Cheptegei clinched his third world title on Sunday (August 20) after winning the 10,000-metre final at the ongoing IAAF World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
Cheptegei muscled his way to the gold medal by winning the race in 27 minutes 51.42 seconds. He beat Kenya’s Daniel Ebenyo (27:52.60) and Ethiopian Selemon Barega (27:52.72) in second and third positions respectively.
This is his third consecutive triumph in the race, which he won during the earlier championships held in 2019 in Doha, Qatar and in 2022 in Oregon, USA.
It is also the first medal for Team Uganda in this year’s championships which started on August 19 in Budapest. Uganda is fielding a team of 16 athletes in the Championships after Jacob Kiplimo, the 5,000m and 10,000m Commonwealth Games champion, withdrew due to injury last week.
Cheptegei is tipped to add another medal when he competes in the 5,000m, which begins on Thursday, August 24 with the qualifying Heats.