Bathurst victory redefines Kiplimo
L-R: Ethiopia's Aregwawi, Kiplimo and Cheptegei on the podium. PHOTO/COURTSEY
What you need to know:
Kiplimo as well currently holds the half-marathon world record at 57 minutes and 31 seconds. He has won medals at both junior and senior levels of the World Championships and the World Cross-country Championships, the only Ugandan to achieve that feat.
These are happy times for Uganda’s athletics family. The gifts in Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo keep giving.
And so was the case on Saturday as Kiplimo and Cheptegei took first and third-place finishes respectively over the senior men’s 10km race during the 44th World Cross-country Championships in Bathurst, Australia.
Kiplimo claimed his fifth career global title by delivering an extra gear of pace in the last kilometre to beat the elite group of eventual silver medalist Berihu Aregawi from Ethiopia, 2019 winner Cheptegei and two-time winner Kenyan Geoffrey Kamworor to win in a time of 29 minutes and 17 seconds.
“Finally four years later, it’s mine,” Kiplimo reacted after the victory after becoming the first Ugandan to win Cross-country titles at both junior and senior level.
“It was not easy but I did my best,” the 22-year-old added. Kiplimo has won an individual medal at each World Cross-country appearance since picking the junior men’s 8km gold medal at the Kampala 2017 edition.
During the previous edition in Aarhus, Denmark in 2019, Kiplimo won the senior men’s silver medal behind Cheptegei.
That marked the first time that the two runners had made the podium in the same global championship race.
While Cheptegei remains the most successful in history, Kiplimo racking up medals fast and surely, he is now walking his own path of history.
At 22, the Commonwealth double champion now holds both the World Cross-country and World Half-Marathon championship titles.
Kiplimo as well currently holds the half-marathon world record at 57 minutes and 31 seconds.
He has won medals at both junior and senior levels of the World Championships and the World Cross-country Championships, the only Ugandan to achieve that feat.
Kiplimo and Cheptegei however have made it a habit to both make the podium in the same races.
They did a 1-2 in Aarhus, then Cheptegei took silver while Kiplimo came home with bronze after the 10000m final at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in Japan two years ago.
Last July, Cheptegei ably retained his world 10000m title while Kiplimo scooped bronze again over the 25-lap event during the Oregon World Championships in the USA.
The pair have brought 11 medals from seven championship races they’ve both been entered in the last five years. Kiplimo and Cheptegei see no rivalry between themselves.
“Unfortunately I couldn't defend my title today,” Cheptegei reacted, “A bronze medal was the highest achievable. Congrats to my brother Jacob Kiplimo. Above all, God is good, anytime, anywhere, always,” he added.
KIPLIMO AT A GLANCE
Date of birth: November 14, 2000
Major events: 5000m, 10000m
Coach: Iacorpo Brasi
Personal Bests: 7:26.64 (3000m), 12:48.63 (5000m), 26:33.93 (10000m)
Manager: Federico Rosa
Management: Rosa Associati
KIPLIMO AT MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
2023 World Cross-country: 1st (Senior Men’s 10km)
2022 Commonwealth Games: 1st (5000m Final)
2022 Commonwealth Games: 1st (10000m Final)
2022 Eugene World Champs: 3rd (10000m Final)
2020 Tokyo Olympics: 5th (5000m Final)
2020 Tokyo Olympics: 3rd (10000m Final)
2020 World Half-Marathon Champs: 1st (Men’s 21km)
2019 World Cross-country: 2nd (Senior Men’s 10km)
2018 World Jnr Champs: 2nd (10000m), 6th (5000m)
2018 Commonwealth Games: 4th (10000m)
2017 London World Champs: 22nd (10000m Heats)
2017 World Cross-country: 1st (Junior Men’s 8km)
2016 Rio Olympics: 26th (5000m Heats)
2016 World Jnr Champs: 3rd (10000m)
CHEPTEGEI - KIPLIMO RACE COMBOS
2023 WORLD CROSS-COUNTRY
Senior Men’s 10km: Jacob Kiplimo (1st, 29:17), Joshua Cheptegei (3rd, 29:37)
2022 OREGON WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Men’s 10000m Final: Joshua Cheptegei (1st, 27:27.43), Jacob Kiplimo (3rd, 27:27.97)
2020 TOKYO OLYMPICS
Men’s 5000m Final: Joshua Cheptegei (1st, 12:58.15), Jacob Kiplimo (5th, 13:02.40)
Men’s 5000m Heat 2: Jacob Kiplimo (4th, 13:30.40), Joshua Cheptegei (5th, 13:30.61)
Men’s 10000m Final: Joshua Cheptegei (2nd, 27:43.63), Jacob Kiplimo (3rd, 27:43.88)
2020 WORLD HALF-MARATHON CHAMPS
Men’s 21km: Jacob Kiplimo (1st, 58:49), Joshua Cheptegei (4th, 59:21)
2019 WORLD CROSS-COUNTRY
Senior Men’s 10km: Joshua Cheptegei (1st, 31:40), Jacob Kiplimo (2nd, 31:44)
2018 GOLD COAST COMMONWEALTH GAMES
Men’s 10000m Final: Joshua Cheptegei (1st, 27:19.62), Jacob Kiplimo (4th, 27:30.25)
2016 RIO OLYMPICS
Men’s 5000m Heat 1: Joshua Cheptegei (4th, 13:25.70), Jacob Kiplimo (11th, 13:30.40)
UGANDA’S MEDALS AT THE WORLD-COUNTRY
SENIOR MEN’S RACE
2023 Bathurst: Jacob Kiplimo (Gold), Joshua Cheptegei (Silver)
2019 Aarhus: Joshua Cheptegei (Gold), Jacob Kiplimo (Silver)
2010 Bydgoszcz: Moses Kipsiro (Bronze)
2009 Amman: Moses Kipsiro (Silver)
JUNIOR MEN’S RACE
2019 Aarhus: Oscar Chelimo (Bronze)
2017 Kololo: Jacob Kiplimo (Gold)
2009 Amman: Moses Kibet (Bronze)
2004 Brussels: Boniface Kiprop (Silver)
2003 Lausanne: Boniface Kiprop (Silver)
2002 Dublin: Boniface Kiprop (Bronze)
TEAM MEDALS
2023 Bathurst: Senior Men’s Bronze, Senior Women’s Bronze
2019 Aarhus: Senior Men’s Gold, Senior Women’s Bronze, Junior Men’s Silver
2017 Kampala: Senior Men’s Bronze, Junior Women’s Bronze
2015 Guiyang: Senior Women’s Bronze
2011 Punta Umbria: Senior Men’s Bronze
2010 Bydgoszcz: Junior Men’s Bronze, Junior Women’s Bronze
2008 Edinburgh: Junior Men’s Bronze
2007 Mombasa: Senior Men’s Bronze
2004 Brussels: Junior Men’s Bronze
2003 Lausanne: Junior Men’s Bronze
2002 Dublin: Junior Men’s Bronze
2001 Ostend: Junior Men’s Bronze
2000 Vilamoura: Junior Men’s Bronze
