Joshua Cheptegei, Uganda’s most decorated athlete, finally got his hands on an Olympic gold medal after winning the men’s 5,000 meters on Friday.
Cheptegei, who is the world record holder over the distance, ran a superb tactical race to outwit Canadian Ahmed Mohamed in a time of 12:58.15.
USA’s Paul Chelimo took bronze as he clocked a personal best 12:59.05 while Nicholas Kimeli of Kenya narrowly missed the medal bracket by finishing fourth in a time of 12:59.17.
Ahead of the race, all eyes were on Cheptegei, who hold world record in a time of 12:35.56, and he didn’t disappoint in the final cementing his place as one of the greatest ever long-distance races.
With three laps to go it all seemed like a lost course for the Ugandan as Kimeli built what appeared to be an insurmountable lead of about 30m.
Analysts revealed the game plan that they employed to ensure that Ugandans would go for two medals in the race.
The plan failed to work in perfection as the rest of the field seemed not to tire with Paul Chelimo coming hot in the heels of Cheptegei at the homestretch.
Uganda’s Oscar Chelimo was to do the pace making for Cheptegei and fellow countryman Jacob Kiplimo but he faded away in the second lap and struggled to finish the race in a time of 13:44.45.
Kiplimo finished in a distant fifth position in a time of 13:02.40 while the other Africa representative in the race Milkesa Mengesha finished a distant tenth, clocking 13:08.50.
