By: Hannah Zhang
With only half a mile left until the finish line of the 2017 World Cross Country Championships, Joshua Cheptegei felt his body struggling against dehydration. He was determined to bring home gold to his homeland, Uganda, and prove their worth against some of the world's best runners. However, he narrowly missed his goal.
Despite being hindered by dehydration in the final 30 minutes of the race, which led him to finish 30th out of the 136 participants, Cheptegei's spirits remained undaunted. Uganda's almost-triumphant performance marks the beginning of a "running renaissance."
"As a country, we're steadily improving every year," Cheptegei emphasized. "We're just starting to showcase our talent."
In fact, Cheptegei himself didn’t even start out as an aspiring runner. At first, his passion was for soccer. He also tried out long jump and triple jump in primary school, but later settled for long-distance running.
Over the past few years, Uganda has made remarkable progress in cross country running. Despite this advancement, Uganda has yet to surpass Kenya or Ethiopia, the origins of many of the greatest talents in the sport.
Uganda's slower talent discovery in cross country can be attributed in part to its delayed modernization. However, this doesn't mean they lacked skill until recently. Endurance was a crucial ability before Uganda's modernization.
Moses Kiptala explained that hunting often involved chasing animals for hours until they overheated.
Then came 1983, a year of resettlement for Uganda and its residents. Despite the trauma, children discovered their talents through school competitions, giving rise to Uganda's first generation of great athletes.
Following this period, Uganda's initial champions emerged. Stephen Kiprotich earned Uganda's first Olympic medal since 1972 at the London Olympics Marathon. He continued to prove himself and his country at another marathon in Moscow the following year.
In the face of skepticism from many Kenyans, Kiprotich asserted, "I had to prove them wrong."