Uganda
2024
Cheptegei finally took the one gold he was missing — at Olympic-record pace — and Chemutai proved Tokyo was no accident. Two medals, and a record story with a ghost in it.
Uganda won two medals at the Paris 2024 Games: Joshua Cheptegei's 10,000 m gold in an Olympic record 26:43.14 — the only major title he lacked, taken in the fastest Olympic 10,000 m final ever run — and Peruth Chemutai's steeplechase silver in a national record 8:53.34.
This is the season of the missing piece: the Saint-Denis gold, Kiplimo's cross country double and his half marathon record that spent a year as a ghost — and the Nike Uganda Olympic kit of the Paris cycle, one piece of which is in this archive.
Part of our Season Series — one year at a time. The full national story is in The History of Athletics in Uganda. Jump to the 2024 kit or browse the collection.
- The Games
- Paris, athletics 1–11 Aug 2024
- The gold
- Cheptegei, 10,000 m — 26:43.14 OR (2 Aug): the one title he was missing
- The silver
- Chemutai, steeplechase — 8:53.34 NR: the Tokyo champion confirmed
- Two in the final
- Kiplimo 8th at 26:46.39 — the fastest Olympic 10,000 m final ever
- The cross double
- Kiplimo defended the world cross title in Belgrade — the Tergat–Bekele–Kamworor club
- G1 2026
- The 26:43.14 OR and Cheptegei's 26:11.00 WR both stand; Kiplimo holds the half WR, 57:20
- The after
- Cheptegei left the track for the marathon (Mar 2025); Kiplimo won Chicago 2025 in 2:02:23
- Kit
- Nike — the federation's official supplier; 1 piece of the Paris cycle in the archive
The Piece That Was Missing
Joshua Cheptegei arrived in Paris with almost everything: three world 10,000 m titles, Olympic 5000 m gold from Tokyo, the world records at 5000 and 10,000. What he did not have was Olympic 10,000 m gold — in Tokyo it had escaped him by silver. On the night of 2 August in Saint-Denis he closed the account: 26:43.14, an Olympic record, in the fastest Olympic 10,000 m final ever run. Jacob Kiplimo, his heir apparent, finished eighth in the same race at 26:46.39 — two Ugandans inside a final where eighth place ran 26:46.
Four nights later, Peruth Chemutai — the Tokyo steeplechase champion — took silver behind Winfred Yavi in 8:53.34, a national record, confirming that her 2021 gold had been no lightning strike. Two medals, gold and silver: for a nation of Uganda's size, a complete Games.
The rest of the season filled in around the medals: Kiplimo had opened 2024 by defending his world cross country title in Belgrade — joining Tergat, Bekele and Kamworor in the club of back-to-back champions — and Halimah Nakaayi lowered the national 800 m record to 1:57.26 in London in July.
The Record With a Ghost Line
The Cheptegei records of Paris still stand — the 26:43.14 Olympic record has no challenger until Los Angeles, and his 26:11.00 world record from Valencia 2020 is untouched. But the wildest record story in this team belongs to Kiplimo, and it took two acts to tell.
Kiplimo's Barcelona 56:42 was refused ratification — he ran tucked behind the pace car — so the fastest half marathon ever run spent a year as a ghost, until he took the record back the official way in Lisbon. Hover or tab on a line. Sources: World Athletics Lisbon report; Running Magazine. Verified August 2026.
The record page (table)
| Year | Athlete | Mark |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Zersenay Tadese — Lisbon | 58:23 |
| 2019 | Geoffrey Kamworor — Copenhagen | 58:01 |
| 2020 | Kibiwott Kandie — Valencia | 57:32 |
| 2024 | Yomif Kejelcha — Valencia | 57:30 |
| 2025 | Jacob Kiplimo — Barcelona — never ratified (pace-car drafting) | |
| 2026 | Jacob Kiplimo — Lisbon, 8 March — the record recovered | 57:20 |
In Barcelona in February 2025 he ran the half marathon in 56:42 — the first human under 57 minutes — and World Athletics refused to ratify it: he had run tucked in behind the pace car. The fastest half ever run spent a year as a ghost. In Lisbon, on 8 March 2026, he took the record back the official way: 57:20, ten seconds under Kejelcha's mark. By then he was also a marathoner of the first rank — second in London 2025 on debut (2:03:37, national record), winner of Chicago 2025 in 2:02:23 in only his second marathon, and third in London 2026 in 2:00:28, under the old world record, on the very day Sawe ran the first official sub-two.
From this season · in the archiveNike Uganda Olympic Team Pro Elite 2024 Polo ShirtNike Uganda Olympic team polo from the Paris 2024 cycle — the issue of the delegation that brought home gold and silver.120,00 €View piece →Exits, Arrivals — and the Kit
Paris turned out to be Cheptegei's winning farewell to the track: in March 2025, before the Tokyo Marathon, he declared himself finished with it and moved to the roads full time. The transition is still a work in progress — ninth in Tokyo 2025 with a personal best 2:05:59, a half marathon win in Dubai in February 2026, twelfth in London 2026 — but the track account closed with the one gold it was missing. Chemutai's road has been harder: chasing the world title in Tokyo 2025, she fell at a barrier in the final, left the track in a wheelchair and was hospitalised for assessment — the title went to Kenya's Cherotich.
Uganda races in Nike — the federation's official kit supplier — and Cheptegei has been a Nike athlete since his world junior title in 2014. The archive's piece is the official Olympic team polo of the Paris cycle.
The longer story — from Akii-Bua's hurdles to the Cheptegei era — is in our history of athletics in Uganda.
Uganda 2024
One piece from the Ugandan team's Paris cycle — the official Nike Olympic team polo of the gold-and-silver delegation.
What did Uganda win at the Paris 2024 Olympics?
Two medals: Joshua Cheptegei's 10,000 m gold in an Olympic record 26:43.14 — his first Olympic 10,000 title, after three world crowns — and Peruth Chemutai's steeplechase silver in a national record 8:53.34.
Why was Cheptegei's gold so significant?
It was the only major title he lacked — he was already a three-time world 10,000 m champion and the Tokyo 5000 m Olympic champion — and it turned out to be his winning farewell: in March 2025 he left the track for the marathon.
What happened to Kiplimo's 56:42 half marathon?
It was never ratified — he ran tucked behind the pace car in Barcelona, so World Athletics refused the record. He recovered it officially in Lisbon on 8 March 2026 with 57:20.
What kit does Uganda wear?
Nike — the federation's official supplier, and Cheptegei's own brand since 2014. The Uganda collection holds the official Olympic team polo of the Paris cycle.
Sources and References
- Wikipedia — Uganda at the 2024 Summer Olympics — both medals and every Paris result quoted
- World Athletics — Kiplimo’s Lisbon world record — the 57:20 and the unratified Barcelona 56:42
- Running Magazine — Cheptegei leaves the track — the March 2025 farewell to the track
- NBC Chicago — Kiplimo wins the 2025 Chicago Marathon — the 2:02:23 in his second marathon
- World Athletics — Belgrade 2024 cross country report — Kiplimo’s back-to-back world cross title