Hundreds of people gathered at the Kenya – Uganda border to welcome the Ugandan sports hero Joshua Cheptegei from France.
Cheptegei arrived around mid day yesterday the 16th of August 2020 at the Malaba border being escorted by the officials from Uganda’s High Commission in Kenya and was officially received by Ugandan government officials led by the Tororo Deputy Resident District Commissioner (RDC), Mr Were Yahya.
Cheptegei won the 5000m race in the Diamond League competitions which took place in France. He extended his gratitude to the Ugandan government for supporting games and sports in the country and appealed to the government to cover some existing gaps.
He said he is going for self isolation in the camp for 14 days as one of the directives from the Ministry of Health and then reunite with his family thereafter.
“Youths should not sit on their talents, they should emulate Cheptegei who has efficiently utilised his talent.” Deputy RDC Yahya said on Cheptegei’s arrival.
He thanked Cheptegei for the milestone achieved which he said has put Uganda on top in the field of sports.
Born 12th September, 1996, Cheptegei is a Ugandan long distance runner. In 2017, he became the silver medalist in the 10,000 meters run at the world championship in London. In 2018, he set a world record for the 15km road race and became the cross country world championship in 2019.
