Joshua Cheptegei
Joshua Kiprui Cheptegei (born 12 September 1996) is a Ugandan long-distance runner. He is the reigning Olympic champion in the 5000 metres and silver medalist for the 10,000 metres, World champion (10,000m), and World Cross Country champion. Cheptegei currently holds world records in both the 5000m and 10,000m, 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 2017, he became the silver medalist in the 10,000m event at the World Championship in London. In 2018, he set a world record for the 15 km road race and became the cross country world champion in 2019. A year 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 of 13:00, set by Kenya's Sammy Kipketer in 2000. In August 2020, at the Monaco Diamond League meet, he set a  new 5000 metres world record of 12:35.36, breaking Kenenisa Bekele's 16-year-old world record of 12:37.35 set in Hengelo. On 7 October 2020, in Valencia, he set a world record time of 26:11.00 in the 10,000 metres, which again improved on 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, Uganda. In primary school, Cheptegei first played football and tried out long jump and triple jump, but switched to running when he discovered his talent in distance running. Cheptegei studied languages and  literature in Kampala for two years and is employed by the Uganda National Police. 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 10,000 metres at the 2017 World Championships in London. He also competed in the 10,000 metres at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, finishing ninth. He ran at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres, finishing eighth and sixth respectively. Cheptegei was the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres champion at the  2018 Commonwealth Games. He won silver in the 10,000 metres and gold in the 5,000 metres at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Cheptegei is a four-time winner of the Zevenheuvelenloop 15 km road race in Nijmegen, 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, who ran a 15km split of 40:43 min at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon. Cheptegei  was the winner of the senior men's race at the 2019 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus, 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 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 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 Sammy Kipketer on 26 March 2000 in Carlsbad, USA. This record stood for nearly 2 years until broken by Berihu Aregawi , who ran 12:49 at the Cursa dels Nassos meet in Barcelona on December 31, 2021. On 13 August 2020, a day before the Herculis meet of the Diamond League in Monaco, 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 5000 metres, 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, he set a new  world record in the 5000 metres with a time of 12:35.36, which broke Kenenisa Bekele'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, which improved on Kenenisa Bekele's 15-year-old record by more than 6 seconds.