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| Joshua Cheptegei defeated a strong team of Kenyans and Ethiopians to win gold in the men’s 10,000m at the 2024 Paris |
Kenya’s gold medal drought in the men’s 10,000m continued after Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei took gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics. None of Kenya’s representatives, Nicholas Kipkorir, Daniel Mateiko, and Benard Kibet, failed to make the podium. Kenyans finished fifth, 11th, and 14th, respectively, and will have to wait longer for a medal at the Paris Games. Joshua Cheptegei defeated a strong team of Kenyans and Ethiopians to win gold in the men’s 10,000m at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Photo by Steph Chambers. Source: Getty Images The Ugandan finished in 26:43.14, shattering Kenenisa Bekele’s Olympic record and winning his country’s first gold medal in Paris. Ethiopia’s Berihu Aregaw took silver in 26:43.44, while American Grant Fisher took bronze in 26:43.46. Kibet was fifth in a personal best of 26:43.98. Ethiopians, led by Aregawi, Yomif Kejelcha, and 2020 Olympic champion Selemon Barega, controlled much of the race but slowed down in the final laps.
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Chepetegei, who is also the world record holder in the distance, took charge in the final lap and never looked back to add a second Olympic gold medal. Kenya’s drought continues Kenya last won a gold medal in this event at the Olympic Games in Mexico City in 1968. Naftali Temu won gold, which was, incidentally, Kenya’s first-ever gold medal at the Olympic Games. The East African nation came close in the 1996 and 2000 games but fell short. Paul Tergat finished second in both games behind Ethiopian icon Haile Gebrselassie, per World Athletics. Kenya will have to go back to the drawing board to devise a plan to win a second gold in the distance. Still, they have a chance to win their first medal in Paris in the coming days.
by Edwin Kiplagat