Like Cheptegei, Uganda can roar  with the heart of an African lion

He is flying the flag brilliantly for Uganda… he is rewriting what is possible in his country. He is a shining example of all that is possible with determination. He is a slight man, but he is big in personality, big in talent, and big in ambition… He has roared with the heart of an African lion… 

It is a world record for Joshua Cheptegei — the Commonwealth champion, the world champion — he is the fastest man in history over six-and-a-quarter miles [10,000 metres] and this is a night that will never be forgotten… He has shone like a star in the night sky of Spain. That was incredible!

It was incredible indeed. With a loud voice and even louder superlatives, it is surprising the commentator kept his lungs and vocal cords going.
Apparently, a whole worldwide long-distance running event was built around Mr Cheptegei breaking a world record. 

Covid-19 or not. The pressure on his shoulders to deliver was massive. If the Spanish city of Valencia would keep its charm and virility, the Ugandan had to deliver. No wonder when it was clear the Ugandan was on the verge of delivering the goods, a standing ovation arose from the 400 people inside the stadium and others watching from atop surrounding buildings.

Mr Joshua Cheptegei is an outlier on the achievement curve.
The beauty about outliers, however, is that they show us how much we need to do to exert ourselves and how high we need to aim. They present excellent aspirational endpoints (or maybe start points), even when they are playing, or is it running, in the stratosphere.

Mr Cheptegei, 24 years old, is not running just to win. He is running to break world records. He is running to set world records. On Wednesday night, he clocked 26 minutes 11:00 seconds to beat Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele’s 15-year-old time by more than six seconds. From the BBC came the record of what else the slight man from Sebei has accomplished in a short span. 

“Cheptegei’s success marks his fourth world record in 10 months, having broken the 10km road best in December [2019] and the 5km road record in February.

“At the Monaco Diamond League in August, he broke another of Bekele’s world records, beating his 16-year-old mark in the 5,000m by two seconds.”
Me Bekele must be wanting to come out of retirement if only his tired bones could allow.

On top of winning bigly on the global stage, Mr Cheptegei is also articulate and in a very mature way. He was still catching his breath, but the way he answered questions on the track was impressive. 

The man is winning on all fronts. Look, this is a dude who in two years is almost done building his own modest (at Shs60 million) high-altitude training centre in Sebei. He got tired of waiting for the grand government one (at Shs25 billion) that President Museveni promised more than a decade ago.

Mr Cheptegei’s exploits force us to reflect on Uganda’s achievements over the last 58 years of independence. For those of you crazy souls, be reminded that this past Friday was Uganda’s 58th independence anniversary. And so, the question is, are we as Uganda hungry enough to win in the manner of Mr Cheptegei, outlier as he maybe?

If Uganda cannot give life a good-faith shot and instead continue in, especially, governmental debauchery and nonsense, we are done for. We are also done for if individually we wait for the government to provide that ideal moment for us to thrive. It will never come.
Probably this uhuru weekend we could all resolve to be Cheptegeis in our own way. With good-faith effort so much is possible in this land. Happy 58th to us all.

Mr Tabaire is a media trainer and commentator on public affairs based in Kampala. [email protected]
Twitter:@btabaire