Image copyright: Getty Images
2020 Summer Olympic Games
Tokyo, Japan
July 23 - August 8, 2021
Uganda will make their 17th appearance in the Olympic Games having missed the 1976 Olympics in Montreal because of its partial support of the African boycott.
We take a closer look at some of Uganda's leading medal contenders:
Image copyright: Getty Images
Stephen Kiprotich (athletics)
The experienced runner is familiar with winning at the Olympic Games having clinched gold in the marathon at the 2012 event in London with a winning time of 2:08:01.
This was the first Olympic medal for Uganda since 1996, the first Olympic gold medal for the country since 1972, and the country's first-ever in the marathon.
Kiprotich, 32, finished 5th at the 2021 NN Mission Marathon in Enschede, the Netherlands in a time of 2:09:04 and he was the first Ugandan to finish beating Geoffrey Kusuro and Felix Chemonges.
Filex Chemonges (athletics)
The 25-year-old holds the Ugandan National Record time of 2:05:12 having achieved it at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 2019 as he finished third.
Chemonges finished second at the Borealis Linz Donau Marathon in Austria in 2019, before competing in The 76th Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon where he finished 9th in 2020.
The highly-rated runner also took part in the NN Mission Marathon in Enschede, Netherlands, where he finished 8th in 2021 and he will be hoping to win a medal in his debut appearance in the Olympics.
“My target is a podium finish in the 5000 meters at the Tokyo Olympics and I know I will make it,” said Chemonges on Sportz Now Uganda.
“I am giving all my best in training right now and I am expecting to be one of the best performers in Tokyo."
Jacob Kiplimo (athletics)
The promising runner was the youngest ever competitor for Uganda at the Olympic Games, with the age of 15 in Brazil in 2016 and he improved his 5000 meters best to 13:19.54 minutes.
Kiplimo has gained some experience since the 2016 Olympic Games having become the World Cross Country Silver medallist at the age of 18 in 2019 and he is the 2020 Half Marathon World Champion
The 20-year-old, who will compete in the 10,000 metres and 5000 metres events in Tokyo, is widely considered to be Uganda's other medal hope after Joshua Cheptegei.
Joshua Cheptegei (athletics)
The accomplished runner is undoubtedly Uganda's best hope of winning a medal in Tokyo and he is the 2019 world champion in the 10,000 meters.
Cheptegei is the tenth man in history to hold the 5,000 m and 10,000 m world records concurrently, both set in 2020 and he became a silver medalist in the 10,000 metres event at the World Championship in London.
The 24-year-old also won two gold medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and he will be confident of winning Uganda's first Olympic gold medal since 2012.
Uganda's performance at 2016 Olympic Games
Medals: 0
Gold Medals: 0
Silver Medals: 0
Bronze Medals: 0
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