Museveni leads praises for champions Kiplimo and Cheptegei
(L-R) Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda finished first, Zouhair Talbi of Morocco, finished third and Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda finished second in the Mens United Airlines NYC Half Marathon on March 19, 2023 in New York City. PHOTO | AFP
What you need to know:
- At the peak of his best, Kiplimo comfortably won the race finishing at 1:01:09 while his counterpart Cheptegei came second reaching the finishing line 38 seconds past Kiplimo’s winning time.
Ugandans could not hold on to their happiness and joy as the two athlete champions, Jacob Kiplimo and Joshua Cheptegei won gold and silver respectively in the New York half-marathon that was held in the US on Sunday.
At the peak of his best, Kiplimo comfortably won the race finishing at 1:01:09 while his counterpart Cheptegei came second reaching the finishing line 38 seconds past Kiplimo’s winning time.
A few hours later, social media was awash with congratulatory messages from people of all walks of life including President, MPs, ministers and other stakeholders.
President Museveni tweeted: “I congratulate you Jacob Kiplimo and Joshua Cheptegei upon winning Gold and Silver respectively in the New York City Marathon today. Your countrymen and countrywomen are proud of your achievement.”
Minister of state for sports, Mr Peter Ogwang via his twitter handle said: “Congratulations Jacob Kiplimo and Joshua Cheptegei for the gold and silver medals respectively.”
Through the Uganda Police Force twitter handle the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Martin Okoth Ochola, congratulated one of his own ASP Joshua Cheptegei and his colleague Jacob Kiplimo for the good results for the country.
“The IGP congratulates Jacob Kiplimo and ASP Joshua Cheptegei for winning a gold and silver respectively in the New York Half Marathon.. Hongera sana (Congratulations),” Uganda Police Force tweeted Sunday.
Mr Gerald Siranda, Uganda’s representative in the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) wrote on his twitter: “Congratulations Uganda’s Kiplimo and Cheptegei upon winning the 16th edition of NYC, America’s largest half marathon. Thanks for raising Uganda’s flag so high.”
Ms Eunice Tworekirwe, the spokesperson for the tourism ministry said: "Congratulations to the golden boys, keep the Pearl of Africa flag high."
On top of the medals, the duo also won cash prizes; Kiplimo will bring home Shs74m while the first runner up, Cheptegei will return with Shs37m.
While Kiplimo has had a perfect start to 2023, he will now head back to a training regime ahead of his quest for the double at the Budapest World Championships in Hungary come August.
Cheptegei who won bronze in Bathurst will attempt to polish up over the next four months before chasing a back-to-back 10000m world title success in Budapest.
