Paris 2024: Why Cheptegei, Kiplimo withdrew from 5000m

Paris, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda’s long-distance stars, Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo, will not compete in the 5000m race at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the Uganda Athletics Federation has confirmed.

In a brief statement, Faustino Kiwa, Head Coach of the Uganda Athletics Team, explained that both athletes were left exhausted after the 10,000m race and were unable to recover in time for the 5000m preliminaries scheduled for Wednesday.

“I wish to inform Ugandans that our heroes Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo have been officially withdrawn from the 5,000m race due on Wednesday 7th August 2024. This follows their failure to fully recover from the grueling 10,000m race in which both athletes competed on Friday 2nd August 2024”,reads part of Kiwa’s statement.

Kiwa’s statement continues: “The event left them fatigued with legs and arm muscle pains. Efforts by the Physio Teams to resuscitate the athletes to their full normal form has not been successful. The Coaching staff in consultation with the athletes, taking into consideration the coaching principle “athlete first, winning second”, decided to withdraw them from the 5,000m to give them ample time to fully recover.”

This development is a significant blow for Team Uganda, as many fans had hoped to see the duo secure gold and silver in the 5000m, especially with Cheptegei being the defending champion, having won the race three years ago at the Tokyo Olympics. Now, Oscar Chelimo stands as the sole representative for Uganda in the 5000m race.

All Hopes on Chelimo  

With the withdrawal of Cheptegei and Kiplimo, Uganda’s hopes in the 5000m rest on Oscar Chelimo, who is Kiplimo’s cousin. Chelimo arrived at the games village on Sunday, having only prepared for the 5000m, thus avoiding the prolonged stay in Paris’s humid conditions before his race.

This presents a prime opportunity for Chelimo to make a significant impact, potentially replicating his performance at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, where he secured a bronze medal despite a challenging field and an injury to Cheptegei during the men’s final.

At the World Athletics Championships, both Chelimo and Cheptegei had qualified for the final, with expectations high for Cheptegei to clinch a second world title after winning the 10,000m race a week prior. However, Chelimo emerged as a strong contender after Cheptegei struggled.

During that race, Cheptegei led for the first four laps before being overtaken by Kenya’s Jacob Krop and Daniel Simiu. As Cheptegei faded, he signaled to Chelimo, who was among the last for almost nine laps. Chelimo then surged past eleven athletes in the final 400 meters to secure his medal. Later it was revealed that Cheptegei was running with a tendon injury.

Worth noting

Chelimo’s breakthrough was in 2018 when he won 3000m bronze at the Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, Argentina, however during the last edition of the world championships in Doha 2019, Chelimo did not progress to the finals 5000m after finishing 14th in heat one of the race.

During the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, Chelimo finished last (16) in the final of the 5000m race that was won by his compatriot Joshua Cheptegei, but previously he had finished 4th in heat one of the semifinal to qualify for the final.

Nanyondo struggles

Meanwhile, middle-distance runner Winnie Nanyondo has failed to qualify automatically for the women’s 1500-meter semi-finals after finishing 10th in heat three on Tuesday morning.

Despite a promising start, Nanyondo fell behind, to finish 10th in a time of 4 minutes and 07.06 seconds behind Kenya’s Nelly Chepchirchir who won the heat in 2 minutes and 02. 67 seconds. Having finished outside the top 6, she drops to Repechage for another chance to make the semifinals.

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URN