Kibet, Chelimo Miss Out on 10,000m Podium at World Championships

Uganda’s medal hopes in the men’s 10,000m faded on Saturday night as Dan Kibet and Oscar Chelimo finished outside the podium at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.

Competing without star duo Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo, the Ugandan camp had always faced an uphill task in this event where the country has enjoyed dominance in recent years.

Cheptegei had won the 10,000m at the last three championships — Budapest 2023, Eugene 2022 and Doha 2019 — but his absence left the stage open for new challengers.

Kibet clocked 29:03.22 to finish 13th while Chelimo struggled to 18th place with a time of 29:26.66.

France’s Jimmy Gressier delivered the night’s biggest shock, storming to gold in 28:55.77 to become the first European to win the event since Britain’s Mo Farah completed his hat-trick in 2017.

Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha took silver, while Sweden’s Andreas Almgren claimed bronze to complete a rare European-African mix on the podium.

Outside Farah’s golden run in 2013, 2015 and 2017, the last non-African winner in this race had been Italy’s Alberto Cova in Helsinki back in 1983.