At the beginning of this week, Uganda’s iconic long distance runner Joshua Cheptegei visited Real Madrid at their home in Santiago Bernabeu.
The reigning Olympic 5,000m champion was welcomed by Real Madrid’s Director of Institutional Relations Emilio Butragueño.
He was taken on of the stadium, told the club’s history before he was handed a personalised jersey with number 1 on the back.
Real Madrid is aguably the world’s most successful club with 35 league titles and 14 Champions League trophies.
Cheptegei was in Madrid for the San Silvestre Vallecana, a race he won in 27 minutes and 9 seconds.
Therefore, Ugandan sports personalities ought to be proud for the personality and achievements of Cheptegei as a person.
Footballers in particular ought to emulate the unquestionable work ethic of Cheptegei the person as he injects in numerous hours of training and workouts to perform at the world competitions with excellence.
Now that Chepetgei recently held a football Christmas tournament at his Kapchorwa home area, there is hope that he could use this cemented relationship as a kicker to be sending talented footballers for trials in Madrid.
For starters, Chepetegi is also a brand ambassador for Tororo based Admin Football Club, a third division club based in Eastern region of Uganda.
This is yet another golden moment for the Uganda as a country to be marketed positively to Europe and the rest of the world as a great tourism destination.
About Cheptegei
Cheptegei is the reigning Olympic champion in the 5000 metres and silver medalist for the 10,000 metres, a two-time 10,000 m World champion from 2019 and 2022, World silver medallist from 2017, and the 2019 World Cross Country champion.
He also won gold medals for the 5000 m and 10,000 m at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
