Cheptegei, Kipyeko eye 5000m title in Oregon
Joshua Kiprui Cheptegei of Uganda leads a pack during the men’s 10,000 meters during day one of the IAAF World Junior Championships at Hayward Field on July 22 in Eugene, Oregon. PHOTO BY AFP
What you need to know:
Joshua Cheptegei won 10000m gold on the opening day and he will be back seeking to clinch a double when he lines up for the 5000m final.
KAMPALA- Of the four athletes that travelled to represent Uganda at the on-going IAAF World Junior Championships, three of them have finished above sixth place in their races.
And knowing they have already bagged a medal, Team Uganda will leave USA’s city Oregon with plenty of satisfaction when the event ends in the early hours of Monday.
After Joshua Cheptegei won 10000m gold on the opening day, he will be back in the fray seeking to clinch a double when he lines up for the 5000m final at the Hayward Field in the early hours of today.
Of the 19 runners on the start-list, the 17-year-old Cheptegei is among the eight runners to have posted a time under 14 minutes over the 12-and-a-half lap race this year.
His seasonal best (SB) of 13:51.19 is ranked seventh of them all and should he cross the finish-line first, Cheptegei will become the only second Ugandan after Moses Kipsiro’s heroics at 2010 Commonwealth Games to win a double at a world event.
But Cheptegei’s country mate Phillip Kipyeko is a firm favourite for a podium finish. Sixth in final at Barcelona two years ago, Kipyeko is the second fastest man among the entries with a SB of 13:29.54.
Kenya’s Moses Mukono, who came eighth in Barcelona, is more than 10 seconds quicker than Kipyeko and will be the main man, after running 13:19.26 at the IAAF Diamond League Meet in May.
Mukono will be joined on the Kenyan team by the much less experienced Fredrick Kipkosgei, who has never raced outside of Kenya before.
