Joshua Cheptegei celebrates after winning 10,000m title in the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 in Doha, Qatar, on October 6, 2019 (CNSPHOTO)

He is now the 10th man in history to hold the 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter world records concurrently, according to worldathletics.org.

But things were not always so glorious for 24-year-old Joshua Cheptegei. At the 2017 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Kampala, Ugandans were shocked when their star runner in the 10,000-meter race, who had been leading from the start, succumbed to fatigue.

He dropped out of contention less than 1 km from the finish line, painfully walking the last part of the race as all the other competitors passed by, eventually coming in at 30th position.

"What has happened to our runner? Has he been bewitched? He had less than 1 km to win the race but he looks wasted," shouted one of the race commentators.

But it seemed while his spirit was willing, his body had given up and all he could do was to walk to the line in agony. Many Ugandan spectators were so disappointed that they labeled Cheptegai a fake and said he had brought shame to their country.

One of the country's veteran athletics trainers John Oramu said there was total disbelief at what people were seeing as Cheptegei stopped running and started walking with his chest bent backward. "Some people shed tears because it was too much for them seeing a Ugandan who was about to win a gold medal [at home] and big cash prize, collapsing not far from the finishing line," Oramu said.

Seated in the pavilion near the finishing line at Kololo grounds in Kampala were the country's President Yoweri Museveni and First Lady Janet Museveni. Speaking after the race, the disappointed president requested an investigation to establish what went wrong.

Golden boy

It was later found that Cheptegei lost steam in the race due to extreme fatigue acerbated by poor nutrition.

On learning this news, Museveni reportedly instructed that the runner be put on a special diet to prevent him losing stamina while racing in the future.

Cheptegei has since transformed that day's disappointment into motivation to achieve multiple top podium finishes.

"It was because of the poor [running performances], beginning in Kampala, that I worked hard to see that successes, like the recent one in Monaco, took place. The Kampala race changed my mindset. That is why now I am doing well and breaking records," said Cheptegei.

And now that he is winning gold medals abroad, the critics at home have changed their tune and refer to him as "our golden boy."

And gold is definitely Cheptegei's color, with a handful of gold medal victories since the Kampala debacle. They include the 2018 Commonwealth Games, the 10,000-meter race at the Doha World Championships and the most recent one this October when he set a world record time of 26:11.00 in the 10,000-meter race in Valencia.

After breaking the 5,000-meter record, he told media, "I am a proud man having broken the world record. I am now planning to attack the 10,000 meters [record]," he said, having now achieved that dream.

Cheptegei said he was disappointed about the postponement of the Tokyo Olympic Games due to the COVID-19 pandemic, because he had set his mind on winning gold in Japan. Despite the restrictions of the COVID-19 lockdown, he managed to train hard in his home district of Kapchorwa. However as there was no tartan synthetic track in his district, he had to train on grass, managing to get to the Namboole Stadium in Kampala for track work when he could.

Fortunately for Cheptegei, Museveni made it possible for him to travel to Monaco to race even though the national airport had been closed due to the pandemic, for which he was very grateful.

Recalling the Monaco race, he said when he crossed the 3,000-meter mark, he was looking at the stopwatch and it clocked 7:35. "I knew I just needed to maintain 60 seconds per lap for me to break the world record."

He managed to cross the finishing line in 12:35.36, breaking the old record, which had stood for 16 years, by 1.99 seconds.

The boy who used to walk barefoot to school had become an international hero.

Role model

Cheptegei was born on September 12, 1996, in Kapchorwa District of Uganda. One of his childhood friends Galuk Chesanga said they were together in primary school.

"At first, he was not interested in running and preferred playing football and long jump. He, however, later turned to running and started winning some races," said Chesanga.

Cheptegai continued with running during secondary school where he was spotted by the Uganda police athletics department. Although he is a runner, he is also an inspector in the country's police force.

There is no doubt that Cheptegei has put Uganda on the world map as far as international athletics are concerned.

Since competing successfully internationally, he has become a role model in Uganda, especially among young people. In his home district, many young people have taken to training in long distance races, hoping to also win medals and prize money in the future.

Jack Kiprop, 15, said, "I have started training in running long distances. I am inspired by Joshua Cheptegei. In future I also want to break world records in long races."

Primary school teacher in Kampala Lucy Namuluggwa said that some children now call themselves Cheptegei, "because they admire his winning in international races."

The Uganda Athletics Federation President Dominic Otuchet, speaking before the 10,000-meter victory on October 7, said that with Chepitegei at his current best form, Uganda is in a good position to shine in long international distance athletics going forward.

 said Otuchet. With the medals he has so far won while only 24 years of age, it is not surprising that Ugandans have high hopes for their running golden boy. 

(Print Edition Title: Running into Glory)

Reporting from Uganda

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