Uganda’s duo of Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo have withdrawn in the 5000m event at the ongoing Paris 2024 Olympics in France, it is official.
The position was confirmed by the head coach of the Uganda athletics team, Faustino Kiwa, in a brief statement to the chef de mission of team Uganda, Moses Mwase.
“I wish to inform Ugandans that our heroes Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo have been officially withdrawn from the 5,000m race due on Wednesday 7th August 2024,” Kiwa wrote.
Joshua Cheptegei set a new Olympic record in men’s 10,000m at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The sad development follows the failure to recover from the blistering 10,000m race that Cheptegei won with an Olympic record time of 26:43.14 last Friday evening.
“This follows their failure to fully recover from the gruelling 10,000m race in which both athletes competed on Friday 2nd August 2024. The event left them fatigued with legs and arms muscle pains. Efforts by the physio teams to resuscitate the athletes to their full normal form has not been successful,” the letter added.
“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,” Kiwa hinted.
Oscar Chelimo who arrived in Paris on Sunday evening will now be the only Ugandan in the 5,000m race that starts with qualification on Wednesday.
Cheptegei is the defending champion of this particular race.
