Cheptegei seals 10000m Olympic Ticket

Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda has clinched the 10,000m Olympic Games qualification by securing second place in the 10k road race held in Laredo, Spain, on Saturday.

His time of 26:53, though 15 seconds slower than his world record set in Valencia in December 2019, met the required standard of 27 minutes for qualification at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

The victor of the race was Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha, finishing with a time of 26:37.

Cheptegei’s next challenge awaits at the World Cross Country Championships in Belgrade in two weeks.

With three 10,000m world championship titles under his belt, Cheptegei’s primary focus for 2024 is to secure the 10,000m Olympic gold, making the Paris Games of utmost importance to him.

In the previous Tokyo Games, Selemon Barega of Ethiopia claimed the 10,000m gold ahead of Cheptegei, who then went on to win the Olympic gold in the 5000m event.

Now, Cheptegei sets his sights on concluding his long-distance track career as an Olympic champion in the 10,000m event.