That medal was always going to come from a‘Kip’

The delirium created by Stephen Kiprotich’s feat at the London Olympics on Sunday took almost everyone by surprise. Not many Ugandans, pundits or not, had this encrypted it in their notebooks or hearts respectively.

That gold in the marathon, the first medal for the Pearl of Africa at the Games since 1996 surely ended years of hopelessness. Going into the quadrennial Games, Moses Kipsiro, like he has done for a large part of the past six years, bore the nation’s hopes.

The 5, 000 and 10, 000m athlete has previously done his job without much support from teammates.
There is something very unique about Kipsiro and Kiprotich; the duo comes from the same region – eastern Uganda. And they are not the only ones. A significant percentage of the successful Ugandan athletes over the past decade hail from the area around Mt. Elgon – 14, 177ft high.

The districts of Kapchorwa and Bukwo can claim to be the cradle for all of them. It’s relatively easy to explain scientifically as training requires less oxygen intake. This forces the body to manufacture more red blood cells which improve the endurance of the body in those conditions.

So, when those athletes from such areas compete in low lying areas, they hold an advantage over the rest of the park. There have been so many from the same locality to hold Uganda’s flag high and the conveyor belt is so long. But questions are now being asked about what has befallen athletes from other regions of the country.

Central and western regions, Kabale in particular, used to produce very good runners. Not any more. Below are some of the most prominent athletes that have emerged from Kapchorwa and Bukwo.

Abraham Kiplimo
Kiplimo is just starting to find his feet at the top as he represented Uganda at the 2012 Olympics, finishing 24th in round one of the 5, 000m. He was 13th at the World Athletics Championships in Daegu, South Korea last year.

Wilson Kipkemei Busienei
Though born in Nakasongola, Kipkemei has a direct correlation with his teammates beyond the first three letters of his name. He won three gold medals at the 2005 World University Games.He took part in the 2004 Olympics, finishing 11th in the 10,000m and also came fifth in the same race at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

Abraham Chepkirwok
Chepkirwok, born in 1988, specializes in the 800m. He is the Ugandan record holder in this distance, with 1:43.72 minutes, achieved in July 2008 in Madrid. He is a World Junior Championships bronze medalist from 2006. He competed at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, two years after winning bronze at the World Junior Championships in the same city.

Boniface Toroitich Kiprop
Kiprop, besides Dorcus Inzikuru, was the most known athlete here before Kipsiro and now Kiprotich.
At the 2001 African Junior Championships in Mauritius, he competed at 5000 and 10000m, finishing first and second, respectively. Two years later the championships were held in Cameroon, and he won both events.
At the 2003 All-Africa Games, Kiprop was fourth in 10000m and sixth in 5000m. He managed to win a bronze medal in the 10,000m at the 2003 Afro-Asian Games.

At the 2004 World Junior Championships in Athletics in Grosseto, Italy, he won the 10000m race and was fifth in 5000m. He recorded a fourth place finish in the 2004 Summer Olympics at 10,000m. Kiprop again finished fourth at the 2005 World Championships. In 2006, he won gold in the 10,000m at the Commonwealth Games. In August 2004 he set a new 10000 metres World Junior Record, 27:04.00 at the Memorial Van Damme meeting in Brussels.

Geofrey Kusuro
Only a few years ago, Kusuro was like any other ordinary runner in Uganda.
But following his gold medal at the 2009 World Mountain Running Championships, the 23-year-old athlete needs no introduction anymore.
He ran in the 5000m at London 2012 but failed to qualify for the final.

Benjamin Kiplagat
Kiplagat specializes in the 3000 metres steeplechase.
He has been part of Team Uganda since 2006 with winning silver at the 2008 World Junior Championships and bronze at the Africa Athletics Championships this year as the biggest highlights.

Martin Toroitich
Toroitich, a brother to Kiprop, represented Uganda in the world half marathon in 2004, world road running in 2006 and world cross country in 2007.

Daniel Kipkorir Chepyegon
Chepyegon is a marathon runner. He was eighth at the Nairobi Marathon recording a time of 2:14:54.
He gained selection for the men’s marathon at the 2009 World Championships and was the only Ugandan to finish the race in Berlin, completing the course in 2:17:47 for 31st place.

Thomas Ayeko
Ayeko competed in the Men’s 10000m in London, finishing 16th overall.

Jacob Araptany
The latest revelation received his first plaudits in South Korea last year finishing sixth in the steeplechase.

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