Newly-crowned Olympic 10,000m champion Joshua Cheptegei has announced that he will not defend his 5,000m title in Paris. Cheptegei shared the news on Instagram on Tuesday, August 6 2024.
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“I’m so proud of having won Olympic gold in the 10,000m,” said Cheptegei, who had won silver in the event at the Tokyo Games.
“So proud for Uganda. After the world junior 10,000m title, three times the world 10,000m titles, the world 10,000m record, this gold medal in an Olympic record time completes my collection. After discussing with my team, we’ve decided it’s best not to compete in the 5,000m.”
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The heats for the 5,000m are scheduled for Wednesday, August 7 with the final slated for Saturday, August 10 2024.
Ugandan chef de mission Faustino Kiwa informed Kawowo Sports that the decision was due to Cheptegei’s “failure to fully recover” from the grueling 10,000-meter finals, which saw several athletes breaking the Olympic record.
Despite Cheptegei’s withdrawal, Uganda will still be represented in the 5,000m by Oscar Chelimo, the brother of Jacob Kiplimo.
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