Joshua Kiprui Cheptegei (born 12 September 1996) is a Ugandan

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires endurance, stamina as well as mental strength. Within e ...

. He is the reigning

Olympic champion This article includes lists of all Olympic medalists since 1896, organized by each Olympic sport or discipline, and also by Olympiad. Medalist with most medals by sport Summer Olympic sports Winter Olympic sports A. Including military patrol e ...

in the

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

and silver medalist for the

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The race ...

, a two-time 10,000 m

World champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

from

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and

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, World silver medallist from

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, and the 2019 World Cross Country champion. Cheptegei won also gold medals for the 5000 m and 10,000 m at the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

. He currently holds

world records A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

in both disciplines, and holds world best in the 15 kilometres road race. He is also the current Ugandan record holder in both the 5 km and 10 km. Cheptegei is the tenth man in history to hold the 5,000 m and 10,000 m world records concurrently, both set in 2020. In 2018, he set a world record in the 15 km. Two years later, at a road race in Monaco, he set a previous world road 5 km record of 12:51, breaking through the event's 13-minute barrier, and taking 9 seconds from the previous best, set by Kenya's

Sammy Kipketer Sammy Kipketer (born 29 September 1981 in Rokocho, Keiyo District) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who specialises in the 5000 metres and cross-country running. Career He graduated from Lelboinet Secondary School in 1998. The next year he qualif ...

in 2000. In August 2020, at the

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fourteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF) one-day mee ...

meet, he set a new 5000 m world record of 12:35.36, breaking

Kenenisa Bekele Kenenisa Bekele ( om, Qananiisaa baqqalaa; am, ቀነኒሳ በቀለ; born 13 June 1982) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. He was the world record holder in both the 5000-metre and 10000-metre from 2004 (5,000m) and 2005 (10,000m) unti ...

's 16-year-old world record of 12:37.35 set in

Hengelo Hengelo (; Tweants: ) is a city in the eastern part of the Netherlands, in the province of Overijssel. The city lies along the motorways A1/E30 and A35 and it has a station for the international Amsterdam – Hannover – Berlin service. Popu ...

. On 7 October 2020, in

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, he set a world record time of 26:11.00 in the 10,000 metres, which again improved on Kenenisa Bekele's 15-year-old best by more than 6 seconds.

Early life

Joshua Cheptegei was born on 12 September 1996 in Kapsewui,

Kapchorwa District Kapchorwa District is a district in the Eastern Region of Uganda. The town of Kapchorwa is the district's main municipal, administrative, and commercial center, and is the site of the district headquarters. It is also the home district of Stephe ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

. In primary school, Cheptegei first played football and tried out

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

and

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

, but switched to running when he discovered his talent in distance running. Cheptegei studied languages and literature in

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...

for two years and is employed by the

Uganda National Police The Uganda Police Force is the national police, police force of Uganda. The head of the force is called the Inspector General of Police (IGP). The current IGP is Martin Okoth Ochola. Ochola replaced former IGP, General Kale Kayihura in March 20 ...

. His coach is Addy Ruiter. In the timeframe from March to May 2020, he reduced his weekly training sessions from 12 to 8.

Career

He is a silver medallist in the

at the 2017 World Championships in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. He also competed in the 10,000 metres at the 2015 World Championships in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, finishing ninth. He ran at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

in the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres, finishing eighth and sixth respectively. Cheptegei was the

and 10,000 metres champion at the

. He won silver in the 10,000 metres and gold in the

5,000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stand ...

at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

. Cheptegei is a four-time winner of the

Zevenheuvelenloop Zevenheuvelenloop (''Seven Hills Run'' in English) is an annual 15 kilometres road running race held in Nijmegen, Netherlands. It was first organised in 1984 and has grown to be one of the largest road races in the Netherlands;van Hemert, Wim & T ...

15 km road race in

Nijmegen Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about 6 ...

, Netherlands. In 2018 Cheptegei set the world record for a 15 km road race. Abrar Osman finished second with 42:34 and the 2017 5000 m world champion Muktar Edris placed third with 42:56. On 19 February 2022 the record was broken by Cheptegei's compatriot

Jacob Kiplimo Jacob Kiplimo (born 14 November 2000) is a Ugandan long-distance runner. He is Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics, 2020 Tokyo Olympic 10,000 metres bronze medallist and also won bronze in the event at the 2022 World Athletics Championships. Ki ...

, who ran a 15km split of 40:43 min at the

Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon is an annual half marathon held in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. History The first event, in 2007, saw Samuel Wanjiru breaking the world record, but Wanjiru himself set a new world record only a month later in ...

. Cheptegei was the winner of the senior men's race at the 2019

IAAF World Cross Country Championships World Athletics Cross Country Championships is the most important competition in international cross country running. Formerly held annually and organised by World Athletics (formerly the IAAF), it was inaugurated in 1973, when it replaced the Int ...

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, Denmark. He won in 31:40 on the 10.24 km course. Ugandan teammate Jacob Kiplimo finished second in 31:44, while Thomas Ayeko placed seventh, and Joseph Ayeko tenth; Uganda won the team first-place title.

World records

On 1 December 2019, he set a new

10 km road race 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

record in Valencia, Spain. His time of 26:38 improved on the previous world record, set by Leonard Komon in 2010, by 6 seconds. This mark has since been lowered to 26:24, the world record being held, as of October 2020, by

Rhonex Kipruto Rhonex Kipruto (born 12 October 1999) is a Kenyan long-distance runner. He is the 2018 10,000 metres world U20 champion and the 2019 10,000 metres world championships bronze medalist. His 10 km road race personal best of 26:24, set Januar ...

of Kenya, who also incidentally set it in Valencia just six weeks later, on 12 January 2020. On 16 February 2020, he set a new 5 km road race world record in Monaco with a time of 12:51. The previous ratified record was 13:22 set by Robert Keter on 9 November 2019 in Lille, France, and the previous fastest time ever recorded over the distance was 13:00 set by

on 26 March 2000 in Carlsbad, USA. This record stood for nearly 2 years until broken by

Berihu Aregawi Berihu Aregawi (born 28 February 2001) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. He placed fourth in the 10,000 metres at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Aregawi currently holds world record in the 5 kilometres road race. Career Berihu Aregawi was the br ...

, who ran 12:49 at the Cursa dels Nassos meet in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

on December 31, 2021. On 13 August 2020, a day before the

Herculis The Herculis is an annual track and field meet at Stade Louis II in Fontvieille, Monaco. Previously one of the five IAAF Super Grand Prix events, it is now part of the Diamond League. World records Over the course of its history, five world reco ...

meet of the

, Cheptegei announced that he aimed to return to the track and run his first official race in the season with a world record time in the

, which would be more than 20 seconds faster than his personal best on a track. At the meet on the next day, with the help of expert pace-making from Roy Hoornweg, Stephen Kissa, and

Matthew Ramsden Matthew Ramsden (born 23 July 1997) is an Australian middle-distance runner. He won a gold medal in 1500 metres at the 2019 Oceania Athletics Championships in Townsville. He represented Australia at the 2019 World Athletics Championships, compet ...

, he set a new world record in the 5000 metres with a time of 12:35.36, which broke

's 16-year-old record – the longest duration in the history of the event – by almost 2 seconds. His splits were 2:31.87; 5:03.77; 7:35.14 and 10:05.46. Bekele congratulated Cheptegei from Addis Ababa. On 7 October 2020, in Valencia, he set a world record time of 26:11.00 in the

10000 metres 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, which improved on

's 15-year-old record by more than 6 seconds.

International competitions

Circuit wins and titles

champion 5000 metres: Diamond blue

: Eugene Prefontaine Classic in

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

(Two miles, ),

Zürich Weltklasse , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich () ...

(5000 m, PB) **

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

: Monaco Herculis (5000 m, ) **

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: Eugene (Two miles) **

: Eugene (5000 m)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cheptegei, Joshua Kiprui 1996 births Living people People from Kapchorwa District Ugandan male long-distance runners Ugandan male cross country runners Olympic male long-distance runners Olympic athletes of Uganda Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for Uganda World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Championships winners Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Uganda Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Diamond League winners Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Uganda Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic gold medalists for Uganda 20th-century Ugandan people 21st-century Ugandan people World Athletics record holders