It’s always a cause for national celebration when any of our own comes top in an international competition. But we never pause to wonder how an individual got to realize the achievement that fetches us the national ride.
Joshua Cheptegei, is yet another story of an athlete who has had to personally invest their own resources to polish their talent to world-conquering heights, in order to fly the Uganda flag high.
Since 2018, Cheptegei has been digging deep into his pockets and those of his sponsors (led by his Dutch manager Jurrie van der Velden and Ducth coach Addy Ruiter) to take his career to the top. In the due course, he started construction of “The Joshua Cheptegei high-altitude training center” in his home district of Kapchorwa, a project he first estimated to cost Shs60m before his sponsors and coaches mobilised about Shs1 billion to make the facility modern.
Speaking during the event where President Yoweri Museveni received the Olympics team that participated in Tokyo, Japan, Cheptegei asked government to support his project as it is currently at 60% completion progress.
“The Joshua Cheptegei high-altitude training center has been supporting young athletes. I have managed to construct about 60% of the center with my own funds and I believe that with your (Museveni) support, we can complete it,” said Cheptegei.
Meanwhile the construction of the government-owned Sh25 billion High Altitude Training Centre in Kapchorwa is at least still a year away from completion. The project was mooted in 2010 by President Museveni in the aftermath of Moses Kipsiro’s double gold medals at that year’s Commonwealth Games, but construction only began in 2018 after an eight-year delay.