KAMPALA – President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has congratulated World Champion, Joshua Cheptegei who has set a new World Record in the 5km race at the Monaco Run.
In a tweet, President Museveni lauded Cheptegei for setting the new record, saying Uganda is very proud of him.
Museveni also urged Cheptegei to world hard for 10,000m Olympic gold in Tokyo, Japan next summer.
“Congratulations to Joshua Cheptegei who has set a new world record in the 5km race at the Monaco Run. Uganda is proud of you and we look forward to even greater performances, especially at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics,” Mr. Museveni twitted.
Joshua Cheptegei on Sunday morning smashed the 5km world record in Monaco, clocking 12:51.
By doing so, the World Champion, Cheptegei has set a new 5km World Record in France, surpassing the previous fastest ever a time for the distance Sammy Kipketer.
Cheptegei’s latest achievement starts 2020, after an extraordinary 2019 in which he also took victory at the IAAF World Cross Championships in Denmark.
Cheptegei first rose to world-record form in 2018 when he shaved eight seconds off the 15km world record at the NN Zeven Heuvenloop race in Holland.
Cheptegei is the only Ugandan to set four world records.
John Akii-Bua is the only other Ugandan world record holder. Akii-Bua shot into the headlines when he became the first man to run the 400m hurdles under 48 seconds.
He clocked 47.82 seconds to win gold at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
