Cheptegei pockets ‘dismal’ Shs108 million
IAAF World Championships London 2017 team captain Steven Kisa hands back the national flag to National Council of Sports general secretary, Nicholas Muramagi as other team members look on during a luncheon to welcome them back. PHOTO BY ISMAIL KEZAALA
KAMPALA- Joshua Cheptegei’s 10,000m Silver medal at the IAAF World Athletics Championships that ended on Sunday in London is adding Shs108m to the Ugandan economy.
Cheptegei finished behind Somali-born British Mohammed Farah to clinch Uganda’s sixth medal at the Worlds and first on the track in 10 years.
For that, he will receive US$30,000 (Sh108m) while Farah’s Gold is worth twice that. Kenya’s Paul Tanui got US$20,000 (Shs72m) for finishing third behind the pair. While Uganda’s display at the Worlds can be tagged as average, it’s a marked improvement from the 2015 edition held in Beijing, China. In the Far East, Solomon Mutai won bronze, the only medal the team managed. This time, Cheptegei was accompanied by 19 others but none got into the prize brackets.
Organisers gave prize money in all competitions for the top eight finishers with the figure dropping from $60,000 to $4,000 (Shs14.4m).
None of the other Ugandan representatives got into the top eight. Besides Cheptegei, Albert Chemutai was the best placed, touching the tape in 10th in the 3000m steeplechase final. Mutai was 11th in the marathon.
With 30 medals, 10 of which were Gold, USA finished top of the medal table ahead of Kenya. They got five Golds in their 11-medal haul. That was worth $576,000 (Shs2.07b), the most an African country managed. Ethiopia ($299,000), South Africa ($275,000), Ivory Coast ($75000), Botswana ($37,000) and Morocco ($34,000) follow in that order.
Prize money is an important analysis tool at many events.
In March, Uganda got only Shs79.2m of the total Shs1.116bn prize kitty staked for the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. Back then, Kenya took nearly half of the $310, 000 worth of prize money at the event held at the Kololo Independence grounds.
They got a grand total of Shs543.6m (about $151,000). Ethiopia finished second in the money bracket with Shs219.6m.
WORLD ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS
TOTAL PRIZE MONEY (AFRICA)
Kenya - $576,000 (Shs2.07b)
Ethiopia - $299,000 (Shs1.07b)
South Africa - $275,000 (Shs990m)
Ivory Coast - $75,000 (Shs270m)
Botswana - $37,000 (Shs133m)
Morocco - $34,000 (Shs122m)
Uganda - $30,000 (Shs108m)
PRIZE MONEY
INDIVIDUAL/ RELAYS
1st: US$ 60000, 80000
2nd: US$ 30000, 40000
3rd: US$ 20000, 20000
4th: US$ 15000, 16000
5th: US$ 10000, 12000
6th: US$ 6000, 8000
7th: US$ 5000, 6000
8th: US$ 4000, 4000
MEDALS WON BY UGANDA
1997 – Davis Kamoga (Silver, 400m)
2005 – Dorcus Inzikuru (Gold, 3000mSC)
2007 – Moses Kipsiro (Bronze, 5000m)
2013 – Stephen Kiprotich (Gold, Marathon)
2015 – Solomon Mutai (Bronze, Marathon)
2017 - Joshua Cheptegei (Silver, 10000m)
2017 FINAL MEDAL TABLE – TOP FIVE
USA – 30 (10 Gold)
Kenya – 11 (5 Gold)
South Africa – 6 (3 Gold)
France – 5 (3 Gold)
China – 7 (2 Gold)
