What are Uganda’s chances at the World Athletics championships?

It will be the first time since Uganda’s legendary track and field athlete Joshua Cheptegei made his bow at the World Athletics Championships back in 2015, that he is not at a World Athletics Championship event.

This weekend, on Saturday, September 13 the World Athletics Championships get underway, and will run up to September 21 in Tokyo, Japan.

The absence of Cheptegei this time will be nostalgic considering that in his five appearances at the World Athletics Championships, since his ninth place finish in the 10000 metres final race in 2015, he went on to bag a silver and three golds in the subsequent four from 2017 to 2023.

However, because Cheptegei had established himself as a sure bet for a medal to most Ugandans over the years, his absence has created some apprehension. This has left questions about how potent Uganda’s contingent of 21 athletes; 11 women and 10 men will be in Tokyo over the course of nine days.

Halima Nakaayi, who runs the 800 metres has headed out to another World Championship having been a World Champion herself in 2019, when she won gold in Doha, Qatar. Then, she won with a time of 1:58.04.

However, at 30 years now, Nakaayi, while she is still competitive on the global scene, has slowed a bit compared to the competition out there. During the World Indoor Championships earlier this year, her season’s best time was 2:04.57.

Compare that to the competition ahead of her, that includes Prudence Sekgodiso, who ran the 800 metres final in 1:58.40, and Nakaayi surely has a lot of ground to make up if she is to bring another medal from the World Championships. Peruth Chemutai, Uganda’s 3000 metres steeplechase 2020 Olympics champion is a big prospect in Tokyo.

Coincidentally, that is where she won the Olympic gold. At last year’s Olympics in Paris, she won a silver in a time of 8:53.34. During Chemutai’s most 3000 metres steeplechase race at the Diamond League in July, she finished third in 8:51.77.

This was behind her main rivals, Winfred Yavi (8:45.25) of Kenyan descent running for Bahrain and Faith Cherotich of Kenya, who ran a time of 8:48.71. been on the scene for a while now. At 31, she maintains a good speed.

In fact in the Kipkeino Classic event held in Kenya, in July, she finished second in a time of 50.93. The competition is stiff in this race, especially coming from Marileidy Paulino (Dominican Republic), Salwa Eid (Bahrain) and Sydney McLaughlin (USA), who running it in 48 seconds on average.

Stella Chesang completed the London Marathon in April this year in 2:22:42, which earned a sixth place. Chesang, 28, who won the gold medal in the 10,000 metres race at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, will have to cut off seven minutes on her running time if she is to match Tigst Assefa from Ethiopia, who won the same London Marathon in 2:15:50, which, incidentally, is a world record.

Victor Kiplangat, 25, is arguably Uganda’s most prominent athlete in the current team representing the country in Tokyo. He was one of the only two athletes, together with Cheptegei, that won medals at these games, held in Budapest, in 2023.

Those were Uganda’s only two medals, and they were golds. Kiplangat is already a major winner in the Marathon. This just followed up a similar feat at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, a year earlier.

In April this year, he ran in the Boston Marathon and finished number 13 in a time of 2:10:13. Kenya’s John Korir had the best time in that race, which he finished in 2:04:45. At the Olympics last year, Kiplangat finished at number 37 in 2:11:59.

The winner, Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia did it in 2:06:26. At 32, Solomon Mutai goes into the games having won before. In the 2015 World Championships, he was the only Ugandan to bag a medal, a bronze at that, when he ran the Marathon in a time of 2:13:30.

In the 2018 Commonwealth Games, he bagged a silver medal in the marathon, after covering it in 2:19:02. He should be buoyed, owing to his experience, as he heads to Tokyo. Others on the team include: Knight Aciru (1500 metres), Loice Chekwemoi (3000 metres steeplechase), Sarah Chelangat and Joy Cheptoyek, who will both run the 5000 metres, after joining Rebecca Chelangat in the 10000 metres.

Mercyline Chelangat and Juliet Chekwel are the other two female marathoners. Tom Dradriga (800 metres), Leonard Chemutai (3000 metres steeplechase), Oscar Chelimo, Kenneth Kiprop and Herbert Kibet (5000 metres), Dan Kibet (10000 metres), Stephen Kissa and Abel Chelangat (marathon), complete the men’s entourage.