Prime
Joshua Cheptegei opts out of men's 5,000m Olympic race
Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda celebrates with his national flag after winning Olympic gold in the Men's 10,000m Final at Stade de France in France on August 02, 2024. PHOTO/REUTERS
What you need to know:
- Uganda will, reportedly, request the Olympics committee to strike the distance runner's name off the start-list on Monday.
The newly crowned 10,000m Olympic champion, Joshua Kiprui Cheptegei, may not be available to defend the 5,000m title he took at the Tokyo Games in Japan, three years ago after he requested not to take part in the forthcoming race.
Reliable sources, who spoke to Monitor from the French capital, Paris, on Monday afternoon, said the global superstar suffered an injury to his shoulder on Friday night after the 10,000m race and has not had preparation sessions since Saturday.
The injury is said to have been triggered by an accidental fall on the Ugandan great by a colleague, long after the race.
"An athlete fell on him during celebrations but it wasn’t serious. However, he felt a lot of pain on Saturday morning [until now] and might not be in the right shape for the race," a source said.
Uganda will, reportedly, request the Olympics committee to strike Cheptegei’s name off the start-list tonight.
The heats for the race are scheduled for August 7 with the final to take place August 10.
If Cheptegei’s name does not feature in Wednesday’s race, it will mirror the 2019 World Championships event in Doha, Qatar, when he only did the 10,000m and brought home gold.
Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda celebrates after winning the Olympics Men's 10,000m gold at Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France on August 02, 2024. PHOTO/REUTERS
Interestingly, in the 2018 Commonwealth Games at the Gold Coast, Australia, Cheptegei, who had just recovered from an injury, had sought not to do the double but on the urging of First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Janet Museveni, he gave it a try and took the top prize – gold - over both 10,000m and 5,000m.
This will also be the only Olympic event that the world record holder has not done the double, having done so in the previous shows in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2016 (finished 6th in the 10,000m and 8th in the 5,000m); and in Tokyo (Silver in the 10,000m and Gold in the 5,000m).
ALSO READ: Quick medal celebrations for Cheptegei
Joshua Cheptegei: Story of tragedy, triumph
