The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Tororo, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT & URN | It does not come bigger than this anywhere else in the athletics world. The world’s top two cross country runners will battle for supremacy over 10km when, for the second time in a year, the eastern Ugandan town of Tororo hosts the National Championships.
While it is a three years since the World Cross Country Championships were last held, the form of defending champion Joshua Cheptegei and silver medalist Jacob Kiplimo cannot be questioned as they have proved the runners to beat during the COVID-19 two year long disruption.
Since the 2019 IAAF World Cross Country Championships held in Aarhus in Denmark, Cheptegei has added two World Championship gold medals, an Olympic gold and numerous world bests in long distance races.
Kiplimo on the other hand has since added double gold in the 5000m and 10000m at the Commonwealth Games, in addition to winning the World Half marathon and bagging distance race bronze medals at the World Championships and Olympics.
Coincidentally, it is in Tororo in 2019 that Cheptegei and Kiplimo last battled at national level for cross country glory. Kiplimo won that battle, and going by current form, the 22-year-old is favourite. Two weeks back, he clinched the regional championships held at the Tuban playgrounds in Kapchorwa.
The 2022 Commonwealth double gold medalist, comfortably secured the 10km race victory in 29:42.02. Kiplimo was followed home by Martin Magengo Kiprotich who crossed the finishing line in 30:11.99 while Caleb Dismas Yeko came third in 30:21.53.
Kiplimo said that the win has given him hopes of a spectacular performance in the National cross country Championships set for December 10th in Tororo.
He will be the favourite in Tororo as doubts remain on the competititiveness of Cheptegei who has been trying to kick off an injury.
Meanwhile, at the same regional championionships in Kapchorwa, Rebecca Cheptegei won the senior women’s category after crossing the finishing line at 34:02.67 to defeat Janat Chemusto who crossed the finishing line at 35:07.9 and Belinda Chemutai who came third in 35:56.4.
Rebecca Cheptegei, who won the recent 21km MTN Marathon, said the course was friendly and the distance was less, compared to the 21km race which needs a lot of endurance and calculations.
“What helped me was the training I did while preparing for the Half Marathon, now I have enough endurance, I just need to work on speed,” Cheptegei told URN in Kapchorwa..
Tororo ready
Uganda Athletics Federation has completed the marking of the 2022 National cross country championships course at Tororo Golf course. The 2km loop course, will have obstacles like timber logs, sand, and hills.
The national Cross-country championships are normally held in February. The event was moved to accommodate time on the athletics calendar for next year’s 44th World Cross-country Championships scheduled for February 18 in Australia. Uganda’s representatives will be selected from this Saturday’s event.
Paul Okello, the Organising Secretary of the Uganda Athletics Federation and the head of the team designing the course, says they completed the course Thursday to allow the athletes to jog through the loops ahead of the competition day. “We have started early to have the loop well designed and ready for use before the competition day,” Okello told URN in Tororo
The race has attracted over 500 athletes from across the country including some international runners. Tororo District Sports Officer, Steven Oryem, says that they are ready to host the event.
“As a district, it is an opportunity for our athletes in Tororo to be inspired by stars like Peruth Chemutai, Joshua Cheptegei, and Jacob Kiplimo,” said Oryem.
Njia Benjamin, a national athletics coach and the vice president of technical at UAF, says, they have concluded marking the course route to allow athletes to prepare for the championships.
“It’s only hours to the competitions, and our high-intensity sessions have been lowered to allow the athletes to recover for the championship,” Njia told URN.
The event will have four categories of racing. The 10km race for both the senior men and women, 8km for junior men, and 6km for junior women respectively.
RESULTS FROM THE LAST WORLD CROSS COUNTRY (source wikipedia)
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual | ||||||
| Senior men (10 km) |
 Joshua Cheptegei (UGA) |
31:40 | Jacob Kiplimo (UGA) |
31:44 |  Geoffrey Kamworor (KEN) |
31:55 |
| Senior women (10 km) |
Hellen Obiri (KEN) |
36:14 |  Dera Dida (ETH) |
36:16 | Letesenbet Gidey (ETH) |
36:24 |
| Junior men (8 km) |
Milkesa Mengesha (ETH) |
23:52 | Tadese Worku (ETH) |
23:54 | Oscar Chelimo (UGA) |
23:55 |
| Junior women (6 km) |
Beatrice Chebet (KEN) |
20:50 | Alemitu Tariku (ETH) |
20:50 | Tsigie Gebreselama (ETH) |
20:50 |
| Relay | ||||||
| Mixed Relay | Ethiopia
|
25:49 |  Morocco
|
26:22 | Kenya
|
26:29 |
| Team | ||||||
| Senior men | Uganda
|
20 | Kenya
|
43 | Ethiopia
|
46 |
| Senior women | Ethiopia
|
21 | Kenya
|
25 | Uganda
|
36 |
| Junior men | Ethiopia
|
18 | Uganda
|
32 | Kenya
|
34 |
| Junior women | Ethiopia
|
17 | Kenya
|
26 |  Japan
|
72 |
Maybe I can be a proof reader next time
Or the piece was written in haste
A few spelling issues
But none the less am up for anything putting Tororo out there
Hopefully the natives can come out in great numbers to support and attend the event
You must be from Tororo? Always able to find the errors 🙂