KAMPALA, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) — Ugandan Olympic gold medalist Joshua Cheptegei will take part within the 2025 Tokyo Marathon on March 2.
Uganda Athletics Federation (UAF) president Dominic Otuchet instructed Xinhua on Thursday, “Cheptegei is training hard after he made his debut in the Valencia Marathon last year. We expect him to keep getting better since he is still new to Marathon.”
Cheptegei, who has gained Olympic gold medals over 5,000m and 10,000m, completed thirty seventh within the Valencia Marathon final yr on his first try on the 42.2km distance.
The Ugandan retired from monitor occasions after 2024 Paris Olympics, and made it clear he would now shift his focus to marathon operating.
Cheptegei, who gained the 2024 New Delhi Half Marathon, instructed Xinhua that he’s engaged on a number of points as he appears to be like ahead to the Tokyo occasion.
“Having run on the track for several years, I am now slowly but properly adjusting to marathons and the training is going well,” added Cheptegei.
Cheptegei, Uganda’s solely gold medal winner at Paris 2024, can even set his concentrate on qualifying for the Marathon at this September’s World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
To safe his spot, Cheptegei must clock a marathon time of beneath 2:06:30 in a qualifying race subsequent yr. His present greatest time over the 42km distance stands at 2:08:59.