Cheptegei: Uganda Can Do Better With Proper Athletics Funding

By Kayiira Jackson 

Uganda government has been urged to increase investment in athletics after Uganda finished fourth overall at the 2026 World Road Running Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Team captain Joshua Kiprui Cheptegei said inadequate funding and the absence of a residential training camp affected the team’s preparations ahead of the championships.

Cheptegei, who led Uganda’s performance in Copenhagen with a bronze medal in the half marathon, said the team would have performed even better had the athletes trained together for an extended period.

“As a sport, we’re not where we were sometime back, but we don’t want to go back there. With this team, we didn’t have any residential camp like we used to. We used to have two months or six weeks that by the time they’re done, the fitness levels were high. But this time, most of us came from our homes,” Cheptegei said.

The Ugandan captain also appealed to the government and the National Council of Sports (NCS) to increase funding to athletics, which he said continues to produce strong results despite limited resources.

“As a country, athletics is really underfunded and it’s performing well, so I see this as a hiccup when it comes to our results. It’s an appeal to the government and NCS to at least increase the funding to this federation,” he added.

Uganda sent 16 athletes to the championships, with eight men and eight women.

Cheptegei was Uganda’s standout performer, winning bronze in the half marathon after clocking a personal best of 58:28.

Feb Chelogoi finished 43rd in the same race in 1:02:08, while Kenneth Kiprop was another notable performer, finishing fifth in the 5km race in 13:04.

Uganda eventually finished fourth among the 21 countries ranked in the championships.

Team manager Apollo Musherure congratulated the athletes but said Uganda could have achieved more with collective preparation.

“Uganda finished fourth on the log. I want to congratulate the team for that performance,” Musherure said.

He added that most Ugandan athletes competed as individuals because they had not had sufficient opportunity to train together as a team.

“We would perform more than that if we trained together as a team in a residential camp. We would run well as a team, but when you analyse, the runners performed as individuals, not as a team like our neighbours, Kenya, did,” Musherure said.

He called for the return of residential camps ahead of future international competitions.

“Next time, we need a residential camp if we are to add to our performance,” he added.

The Ugandan delegation returned to the country on Monday night, with an official welcome held on Tuesday at the Uganda Athletics offices in Kampala.

Musherure handed back the national flag to the athletics federation president Dominic Otucet after giving an account of the team’s participation in Copenhagen.

Uganda’s travelling team

Men: Joshua Kiprui Cheptegei (Captain), Feb Chelogoi, Mande Bushendich, Martin Kiprotich, Kenneth Kiprop, Alex Kiplangat, Silas Chemutai and Hosea Kiprop.

Women: Esther Chebet, Rebecca Chelangat, Annet Chemengich Chelangat, Esther Yeko Chekwemoi, Charity Martha Chemutai, Patience Cherop and Felister Chekwemoi.