Oregon22; Uganda’s Cheptegei narrowly grabs gold medal to retain his title

•        Kenya’s Stanley Waithaka Mburu settled at the second position claiming Silver in 27:27.90.
•        Cheptegei holds a 10,000km personal best of 26.11
•         World Athletics championships are ongoing in Oregon and set to end on 24^th July.

Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei on Sunday won the 10,000Km Men’s race at the ongoing World Athletics Championships in Oregon clocking 27minutes 47 seconds to retain his title.

Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei,Kiplimo and Kenya’s Stanley Mburu celebrate at the podium after the 10,000km race on Sunday 17th July in Oregon.
Picture/Word Athletics/Twitter

Kenya’s Stanley Waithaka Mburu settled at the second position claiming Silver in 27:27.90 as Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo finished third settling for bronze after clocking 27:27.97 in an what could be termed as unusually close finish.

Despite Cheptegei’s dominance, Kenya’s Stanley Mburu was the star of the day despite a stumble in the opening lap he managed to outshine Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo.

In a statement after the race, Cheptegei stated that his biggest challenge during the race was the climatic condition, the heat in Oregon was too challenging for him, and that he didn’t aim to run that fast.

“I did not aim to run really fast because of the heat, the sun was very strong,” Cheptegei said. “The conditions were kind of challenging.

“You just have to enjoy the race and see how it is going. Then it was going good.”

On his finishing tactics, he added that he knew he could control the race if he get into the last fight.

“I knew that if I get into the last fight, I can control it and I could speed it up. I was able to get stronger and keep it faster and faster.”

You could not easily predict the winner of the race with Spain’s Carlo Mayo taking up the early running, with the loaded field quickly splitting into a single file after every single minute.

Mburu’s powerful finish

Stanely Waithaka Mburu the 22-year-old wasn’t amongst people’s favorites at the start of the race with all focus on Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei with his compatriot Jacob Kiplimo, Spains Carlo Mayo, and Olympic champion Selemon Barega of Ethiopia coming in an early lead of the race.
Mburu who is also the 2018 world U20 silver medallist at 5000m stumbled in the opening lap, the 22-year-old managed to beat Kiplimo at the finish line at a time of 27:27.90.