Joshua Kiprui Cheptegei has opted out of the 5,000m race in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games after winning the 10,000m gold medal in the ongoing tournament.

The development was due to Cheptegei’s injury during the 10,000m race he ran on Friday, August 2, 2024.

According to Daily Monitor, the injury was triggered by a colleague’s heavy fall on Cheptegei after the tight and thrilling race.

“An athlete fell on him during celebrations, but it wasn’t serious. However, he felt a lot of pain on Saturday morning and might not be in the right shape for the race,” a source told Daily Monitor.

The sad happening has forced the Ugandan Olympic Committee to remove the athlete’s name from the list ahead of the race’s heats on Wednesday, August 7.

Cheptegei’s dismissal from the list now hands the mantle to Jacob Kiplimo, who will be out to search for a slot on the podium.

Cheptegei is the defending champion of the 5,000m race after securing gold in Tokyo. He will not have a chance to double his medals like it was in the previous edition.

Ugandan raising sprinter Tarsis Orogot will compete in the Men’s 200m heats race at the ongoing 2024 Paris Olympic Games today.

Orogot will have to be among the best three in today’s race for a direct qualification to the semifinals.

Orogot is the first Ugandan to take part of the 200m race at the Olympics in 32 years following Francis Ogola’s show in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

However, Uganda has not been so active in the sprints since the last Ugandan to compete in that specific bracket was Davis Kamoga, who clinched bronze in the 1996 Olympics.

The field will be littered with big names in the race, but Orogot’s assignment remains making it to the finals, and that will be a big shift in the youngster’s progress.

Orogot has lowered his national record twice as now it stands at 19.75 following his last race in May in Gainesville.

Uganda’s Peruth Chemutai won heat one of the 3000m Steeplechase heats with lots of ease on Sunday morning.

Chemutai ran the fastest time (9:10:57) in the three different heats to confirm her slot in the final race.

Chemutai was in the lead for the biggest time of the race, and this made her climax easy ahead of a talented pack of quality athletes.

Heat two was won by Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi with a timing of 9:15:11 while Sembo Almayew Welteji posted 9:15:42.

Kenya’s Beatrice Chepkoech won the third heat with a timing of 9:13:56 ahead of France’s Alice Finot (9:14:78).

Chemutai will use the coming days to recover her body ahead of the highly anticipated final that will be held on Tuesday, 6th August at 10:14 PM.

Ugandan long-distance star Joshua Cheptegei has won Uganda’s first gold medal at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France.

Cheptegei triumphed in the thrilling Men’s 10,000m final in an Olympic Record time of 26:43.14.

He smashed Kenenisa Bekele’s long-standing record of 27:01.17 set at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Ethiopia’s Berihu Aregawi claimed silver medal with a time of 26:43.44 while USA’s Grant Fisher took bronze.

Meanwhile, Jacob Kiplimo fell off in the final 200m and finished eighth while Martin Kiprotich, the other Ugandan in the race, finished 22nd but posted his personal best of 28:20.72.

With the victory, Cheptegei is now both an Olympic and world champion in the 10000m. He had previously won gold in the 5,000m at the Tokyo Olympics but settled for silver in the 10,000m.

Cheptegei is also a World Record holder in both the 10,000m and 5,000m.

Halimah Nakayi will be on track in the Women’s 800m round one at the 2024 Paris Olympics Games today, Friday.

Nakaayi hit the global scene in 2019 after clinching gold in the 2019 World Championships in Doha.

However, along the way, she has met stumbling blocks that have slowed her growth, including missing out on the finals in the previous Olympics edition in Tokyo.

In her recent race at the London Diamond League, Nakaayi finished sixth as she set a new Ugandan National Record (1:57:26).

In today’s race, Nakaayi will meet strong competition, but her assignment will be finishing in the best three to clinch a slot into the semifinals of the thrilling race.

Nakaayi will have a chance to turn her fortunes around after missing out on the semifinals in Tokyo, but that will be known at 7:54 pm (EAT)

Ugandans in action today

• Rowing – Women’s Singles Sculls (Repechage): Kathleen Noble (11:00 AM)
• Swimming – Men’s Butterfly: Jesse Ssengozi (noon)

Athletics

• Women’s 5000m Heats: Esther Chebet, Belinda Chemutai, and Joy Cheptoyek (7:10 pm)
• Women’s 800m Heats: Halimah Nakaayi
• Men’s 10000m: Cheptegei, Jacob Kiplimo, and Martin Kirotich (10:20 pm)

Nine Ugandan athletes will be in action today, but Uganda’s medal hopes lie on Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo, who will be racing in the Men’s 10000m at the Paris Olympics on Friday.

In the just concluded Olympics edition, Cheptegei and Kiplimo scooped silver and bronze medals respectively in the 10000m race.

This year, the duo, together with Martin Kiprotich, will have to stick to a plan of working together if they are to achieve the dream of returning to the podium.

Uganda’s plans face strong opposition from Ethiopia’s entourage which is made up of Tokyo’s gold medalist Selemon Barega, Yomif Kejelcha, and Berihu Aregawi.

Cheptegei has been silent this year since he kick-started his preparations to switch from track to the road.

This year, he has not taken part in any 10000m race, apart from his disappointing eighth finish in a 5000m in the Oslo Diamond League.

Even though Cheptegei has claimed three 10000m gold medals at the World Championships, he still awaits his first Olympics 10000m gold medal.

Several athletics commentators have made it clear that it’s (10000m gold medal) the only medal remaining for him to be confirmed at the Greatest Of All Times (GOAT).

Ugandans in action today

• Rowing – Women’s Singles Sculls (Repechage): Kathleen Noble (11:00 AM)
• Swimming – Men’s Butterfly: Jesse Ssengozi (12:00 PM)

Athletics

• Women’s 5000m Heats: Esther Chebet, Belinda Chemutai, and Joy Cheptoyek (7:10 pm)
• Women’s 800m Heats: Halimah Nakaayi
• Men’s 10000m: Cheptegei, Jacob Kiplimo, and Martin Kirotich (10:20 pm)

Uganda eagerly anticipates its first medals on Friday, August 2 at the ongoing Olympics in the French city of Paris.

Three of Uganda’s athletes at the Games will be competing in the final of the Men’s 10,000m with the race scheduled for 10:00 pm (East African Time).

The three are multiple World Champion Joshua Cheptegei, World Cross Country champion Jacob Kiplimo and first-time Olympian Martin Kiprotich.

The nation’s hopes rest on Cheptegei who earlier in the year said he was focused on winning the 10,000m Olympic gold and Kiplimo who has been in good form.

At the previous Olympics in Tokyo, Cheptegei and Kiplimo secured silver and bronze respectively in the event.

Cheptegei and Kiplimo will be looking to dethrone defending champion Selemon Barega who forms a strong three-man Ethiopian team that also has  Yomif Kejelcha and Berihu Aregawi.

The Ugandan athletes in Paris are in a high mood after learning of the prize money set by the Government of Uganda.

This was confirmed by Hon. Peter Ogwang, the State Minister of Sports on behalf of Hon Janet Museveni, the First Lady and Cabinet Minister of Education and Sports.

“For those who will get out with medals, the ministry under the National Council of Sports and the directive of the First Lady has provided 30,000 USD for a gold medal,” Ogwang revealed.

“That is 100 million Uganda shillings for a gold medal. We shall also have 50 million for a silver medal. Then we shall have 35 million for a bronze medal, and this money is ready,” he added.

The prize money for a gold medal has been doubled since Joshua Cheptegei and Peruth Chemutai were awarded UGX 50 M for clinching gold in the men’s 5000m and women’s 3000m steeplechase in Tokyo.

While for silver and bronze, Cheptegei was awarded an extra UGX 30 million as Jacob Kiplimo smiled away with UGX 20 million.

This year’s prize will further fuel the athletes’ dreams as they seek to get onto the podium in the ongoing Olympics tournament in Paris.

Ugandan medal hopefuls have finally arrived in Paris as they were pumped up to make a mark in the 2024 Olympics.

Joshua Cheptegei, Joshua Kiplimo, and Martin Magengo, who will compete in the 10000m final on Friday, arrived in the Olympics village.

Joy Cheptoyek, Esther Chebet, and Belinda Chemutai, who will compete in the 5000m women’s race, were part of the team that had just landed in Paris.

Faustino Kiwa, athletics team coach, further shared that the team is still taking shape as they expect more athletes to join the camp as the Olympics roll on.

“The three have arrived that is Joshua Cheptegei, Jacob (Kiplimo), and Peruth (Chemutai). The three were medalists in the previous Olympics edition,” Kiwa shared.

“We believe that they are here to defend their titles because they are in high spirits as well as in a good mood, and I am glad that the team is taking shape,” he added.

According to Kiwa Tarsis Orogot, Halima Nakaayi, Winnie Nanyondo, and Tom Dradriga are set to join the team after concluding their engagements in Europe.

So far, Uganda has been represented by two athletes in the ongoing Olympics that is Kathleen Noble in rowing and Gloria Muzito in swimming.

The 2024 Olympic Games will take centre stage from July 27 to August 11 in the French capital Paris and other cities.

Multiple world champion and Olympic 5000m gold medalist Joshua Cheptegei was appointed the captain of Team Uganda and leads the country’s cast of athletes who will compete at the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad.

Uganda’s team is comprised of 25 athletes who will be competing in track and road events, swimming, cycling and rowing.

There are 12 first-time Olympians in Uganda’s team including rising sprinter Tarsis Orogot, swimmers Gloria Muzito and Jesse Ssengozi, marathoners Rebbecca Cheptegei, Victor Kiplangat and Andrew Rotich Kwemoi, cyclist Charles Kagimu, long-distance runners Belinda Chemutai, Annet Chelangat, Joy Cheptoyek, and Martin Kiprotich, and steeplechaser Leonard Chemutai.

Cheptegei, a gold medalist at the last Olympics, will lead Uganda’s medal hunt along with Jacob Kiplimo, who will compete in 5000m & 10000m.

Kiplangat has been in fine form on the road over the past couple of years winning the marathon gold at the Commonwealth Games in 2022 and last year’s world championships. He, too, holds Uganda’s medal hopes.

Peruth Chemutai, a gold medalist in Tokyo, will be looking to defend her crown in the women’s 3000m steeplechase. Chemutai has run a world-leading time in the event this season and will fancy her chances in Paris.

Uganda 2024 Olympics Team

ATHLETICS

MEN

1. Tarsis Gracious Orogot 200m
2. Tom Dradriga – 800m
3. Jacob Kiplimo – 5000m &10000m
4. Joshua Cheptegei – 5000m &10000m
5. Oscar Chelimo – 5000m
6. Martin Magengo Kiprotich – 10000m
7. Leonard Chemutai- 3000m Steeplechase 
8. Victor Kiplangat – Marathon 
9. Stephen Kissa – Marathon 
10. Andrew Rotich Kwemoi – Marathon

WOMEN

1. Halimah Nakaayi – 800m
2. Winnie Nanyondo – 1500m
3. Joy Cheptoyek – 5000m &10000m
4. Esther Chebet – 5000m
5. Belinda Chemutai  – 5000m 
6. Sarah Chelangat – 10000m
7. Annet Chemengich Chelangat – 10000m
8. Peruth Chemutai – 3000m Steeplechase 
9. Stella Chesang – Marathon 
10. Mercyline Chelangat – Marathon 
11. Rebecca Cheptegei –  Marathon 

SWIMMING

1. Gloria Muzito – 100m Freestyle 
2. Jesse Ssengonzi – 100m Butterfly 

CYCLING

1. Charles Kagimu – Men’s Road Race

ROWING

1. Kathleen Grace Noble – Single Scull Rowing