On Sunday, Uganda’s long distance runner Joshua Cheptegei once again held the Ugandan flag high as he broke the 5km World Record at the Monaco Run in France after finishing in a time of 12 minutes and 51 seconds.
Congratulatory messages were poured to him and among them was a message from President Yoweri Museveni.
In his tweet, Museveni said, “Congratulations to Joshua Cheptegei who has set a new World Record in the 5km race at the Monaco Run. Uganda is proud of you and we look forward to even greater performances, especially at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.”
Cheptegei replied to Museveni’s tweet revealing how the poor facilities in the country are blocking the elevation of millions of talents in the Pearl of Africa.
“Your Excellency, with proper facilities in place, Uganda will no doubt become the Athletics powerhouse. I am happy that Teryet High Altitude Training Centre is yet in progress of its completion. Only UNRA should come clear on issue of the road to the facility,” Cheptegei said in a tweet.
In 2010 when Moses Kipsiro brought home double gold medals from the Commonwealth Games, Museveni ordered for the construction of the Sh25 billion High Altitude Training Centre in Kapchorwa. However, construction only began in 2018 after an eight-year delay.
Meanwhile Cheptegei is also constructing his own high altitude training center in Kapchorwa estimated to cost Shs1 billion.
After the Monaco heroics, Cheptegei is now focusing on the Tokyo, Japan Olympics where he is the leading contender for gold in the 10,000m race.