Joshua Chiptege is claiming a loser

In case Joshua Chiptege It should be studied as one of the examples of will, courage and determination cited in Entrepreneur Courses. Two years ago, it was Ugandan runner He starred in a more dramatic end to the race as the marathon than the 12-kilometer cross-country test.

It was celebrated on Crossover world in Kampala, The capital of Uganda. On an especially hot day, Cheptegei, with the encouragement of his countrymen, set a suicidal pace from the start (in the words of the current Cros hero, the Kenyan, until that day Geoffrey Camoror) And reached the last suspended kilometer. The fans were already celebrating his victory when the athlete collapsed from the drought and reached the finish line as best he could (finished 30th), “the drum bang” – as they say in a mathematical language – and in the midst of a deadly silence. Ugandan Prime Minister, Yoweri Museveni He had the grace to console the unfortunate athlete. Two years later, Cheptegei received his boss’s congratulations after winning, against expectations, the Cros World Cup held a week earlier in Aarhus (Denmark).

Cheptegei and favorite, Jacob Kiplymo (Second), he contributed to the victory of their country’s national team, UgandaAnd defeat the Ethiopians and Kenyans, who have mastered this discipline since 2002 without much opposition. Success places Ugandans as a new force in athletics in the long term.

His father’s example

Cheptegei’s collapse in Kampala sparked fierce criticism in local media and a barrage of memes later. The Ugandan did not shrink and his disappointment turned into persistence, like his father, a hostility also out of necessity. “He ran so his cows wouldn’t be stolen. Now I’m the only one in the family who runs.”

Tradition dictates, the athlete recognizes skill Kalingin, It twin tribally with Kenyans and Ugandans for reasons related to the state and because of the border line drawn by the British in 1894 when Kingdom of Buganda Renamed the Uganda Protectorate. Chiptiji refers to the instability and economic ruin of his country, after a notorious dictatorship Idi Amin Dada, As guilty of delaying sports in their country.

Criticism and irony

He is the second of nine siblings, who had never considered giving in or succumbing to apparent criticism and ridicule due to his dramatic collapse in Kampala. They served as a catalyst and additional motivation – he asserts -, likely prompting him to do vital work in Afro engineering for his sporting future. Thanks to racing proceeds and through its sponsoring club, NNRT, it financed the construction of a 400-meter, four-lane gravel track at Kapchorwa Training Camp, on the northern slopes of Mount Elgón, a dormant volcano. Uganda from Kenya.

Cheptegei was repeatedly injured while training for the wild, up and down circuits. Summer is a track runner, focusing on 10,000 meters, for the Tokyo 2020 Games. For this series, a flat and stable floor without grass is needed, which can withstand heavy rain in December and January. Cheptegei invested 30 thousand euros on his course. “It is open to anyone who wants to use it,” qualifies the athlete who prepared it Addy Reuter, A Dutch coach whose philosophy partly sums up the cultural gap between two continents: “My system is based on trying to make small changes in the routine of African athletes. In Africa, big changes don’t work.”

15 km world records and titles

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With confidence he trained during 2018 and at just 22 years old, he set the world record of 15 kilometers (41.05 minutes) at the prestigious NN Seven Hills last November. Good precedent to start offsetting his unfairly mocked performance in Kampala. Two years later he succeeded in Aarhus.

But first he had to overcome more difficulties. In December, he was hit by a car and had to stop for two weeks, with back and neck pain. And a week before the World Cup, he felt unwell with a cold. Reuter and his manager, Jore Van der Velden They suggested “not show his cards” until the last round. This is how it went.