Joshua Kiprui Cheptegei (born on September 12, 1996 in Kapchorwa) is a Ugandan athlete, specialist in long-distance running.
He is a triple world champion in the 10000 m: in 2019 in Doha, in 2022 in Eugene and in 2023 in Budapest, Olympic champion of 5000 m in Tokyo, and of 10000 m in 2024 in Paris. He is also the 2019 world cross-country champion.
He is the current holder of the 5000m world record with a time of 12:35:36 set in Monaco on August 14, 2020, and the 10000m world record with a time of 26:11:00, which he performed on October 7, 2020 in Valencia. He also broke the Olympic record for the 10000 m on August 2, 2024 at the Paris Olympics with a time of 26:43:14.
Joshua Cheptegei is the worthy heir to his compatriot John Akii-Bua, who wrote one of the finest pages of Ugandan athletics. His country's first Olympic champion in 1972 at the Munich Olympic Games, he broke the world record in the 400m hurdles in 47''82, which he held until 1976. He was also, in the Munich Olympic stadium on September 2, 1972, the first athlete in history to perform a lap of honor with the flag in hand. This would later become a tradition at the Olympic Games, and in other major competitions.
