Cheptegei Wins Gold at Paris Olympics

Joshua Kiprui Cheptegei clinched the 10,000m gold at the Paris Olympics on Friday night, setting a new Olympic record.

Cheptegei delivered one of his best performances ever, finishing in 26:43.14 minutes, the fastest time in Olympic history.  

Ethiopia's Berihu Aregawi, who had finished fourth at the Tokyo Olympics and last year's World Championships, claimed his first global medal by securing silver with a time of 26:43.44. USA's Grant Fisher took bronze, finishing just behind in 26:43.46.  

Cheptegei’s compatriot Jacob Kiplimo finished eight in 26 minutes and 46.39 seconds which is his season best time, while Martin Magengo finished 22nd in the 25-lap race at the Stade de France in perfect warm conditions.  

The race was intense from the start, with defending champion Selemon Barega and Ethiopian teammate Yomif Kejelcha setting a fast pace that split the field early on. Berihu Aregawi then took the lead, with the Ethiopian trio dictating the pace while Cheptegei and Kiplimo closely monitored them.  

Aregawi and Kejelcha increased the tempo, reducing the main pack to 15 runners. In the final stages, Barega, who had dropped back, fought his way forward. But with one lap remaining, Cheptegei surged to the front, and maintained his lead to the finish line. At this time Kiplimo had dropped the pace.  

This was the only medal missing from Cheptegei’s cabinet after missing out at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in Japan three years ago to Ethiopian Selemon Barega with Cheptegei taking silver and Kiplimo grabbing the bronze.  

Meanwhile, earlier in the day Uganda’s rower Kathleen who was the first in action finished second place in Repechage Final E when she clocked 7:56.10 behind Nihed Benchadli who won the final in seven minutes and 54.25 seconds.  

This was Noble’s lifetime best of 7:56.10, beating her previous mark by 10 seconds as she bows out of the sport after representing Uganda in two different editions of the Olympic games. Overall, she finished 26th.  

In swimming, Jesse Ssengozi shattered the national record in the 100m Butterfly, clocking an impressive 53.76 seconds behind Croatia’s Nikola Miljenic, who won the heat. However, despite his outstanding performance, Ssengozi missed out on advancing to the semifinals.  

According to the new qualification settings, the top 16 swimmers with the fastest time across all the heats earn a spot in the semifinals. This is different from the previous editions where the top athletes from each heat qualified for the semifinal. His time ranked 31st in the overall standings.

In the women’s 5000-meter heats, Uganda still had a tough night when two of her competitors missed out on qualifying for the final. Belinda Chemutai came 12th in a time of 15:23.90 in heat one while Joy Esther Chebet finished 13th in a time of 15:10.46 in heat. Earlier, Joy Cheptoyek failed to enter the race after picking a hamstring injury. Only the First 8 in each heat advanced to the Final.  

In the 800 meters, Uganda's Halimah Nakaayi missed out on an automatic ticket to the Women's 800m semifinals when she finished 4th in heat two. According to the qualification, only the top 3 from each Heat advance automatically to the semi-final. She will have a second chance in Saturday's repechage.