22 Facts About Joshua Cheptegei

Joshua Kiprui Cheptegei was born on 12 September 1996 and is a Ugandan long-distance runner.

Joshua Cheptegei is the current world record holder for the 5000 metres and the 10,000 metres, and held the world best time over the 15 kilometres distance.

Cheptegei is the reigning Olympic champion in the 10000 m and the reigning three-time World champion in the 10,000 m Cheptegei won a gold medal in the 5000 m and 10,000 m at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and at the 2019 IAAF World Cross Country Championships.

At the 2024 Olympic Games, Cheptegei won gold in the 10,000 metres, becoming the Olympic champion and setting a new Olympic record in the process.

Joshua Cheptegei is the tenth man in history to hold the 5000 m and 10,000 m world records concurrently, both set in 2020.

Joshua Cheptegei was born on 12 September 1996 in Kapsewui, Kapchorwa District, Uganda.

Joshua Cheptegei studied procurement and logistics management in Uganda and is employed by the Uganda National Police.

Joshua Cheptegei competed in the 10,000 metres at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, finishing ninth.

Joshua Cheptegei ran at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres, finishing eighth and sixth respectively.

Joshua Cheptegei is a silver medallist in the 10,000 metres at the 2017 World Championships in London.

Joshua Cheptegei was the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres champion at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Joshua Cheptegei was the winner of the senior men's race at the 2019 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus, Denmark.

On 1 December 2019, Joshua Cheptegei set a new 10 km road race record in Valencia, Spain.

On 13 August 2020, a day before the Herculis meet of the Diamond League in Monaco, Joshua Cheptegei announced that he aimed to return to the track and run his first official race in the season with a world record time in the 5000 metres, which would be more than 20 seconds faster than his personal best on a track.

Joshua Cheptegei won gold in the 5,000 metres and silver in the 10,000 metres at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

At the 2022 World Athletics Championships, Joshua Cheptegei won the 10,000 metres and placed ninth in the 5,000 metres.

At the 2023 World Athletics Cross Country Championships, Joshua Cheptegei placed 3rd to his countryman Jacob Kiplimo and Ethiopian Berihu Aregawi.

Joshua Cheptegei successfully defended his 10,000 metres title at the 2023 World Athletics Championships.

At the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, Joshua Cheptegei won gold in the 10,000 metres final, in a new Olympic record of 26:43.14.

Shortly after winning gold in the 10000 meter event, Joshua Cheptegei announced on Instagram that he would not be defending his 5000 meter gold medal from Tokyo, citing failure to recover from the race.

Joshua Cheptegei hinted that he will not pursue another Olympic Games on the track, and instead focus more on road racing in the future.

Joshua Cheptegei collaborated with the UNDP to participate in the Elgon half marathon together with other community activists, some of which included Lanie Banks with the aims of protecting the environment, keeping girls in school and ending Gender-based Violence.