Cyclist Charles Kagimu Etches His Name in History as First Uganda to Complete Olympic Race, Receives Roaring Applause

Charles Kagimu etched his name in the record books as the first Ugandan to ever complete an Olympic road race.

With a remarkable 77th-place finish in Paris, the 25-year-old trailblazer becomes a pioneering figure in Ugandan cycling.

He was part of the early breakaway and led the race for over 190km and despite crossing the finish line as the last rider, Kagimu fought to the end.

According to Cycling News, almost half an hour after Remco Evenepoel (Belgium) celebrated his historic victory in the Paris Olympic Games road race, Charles Kagimu lit up the arena at the Trocadéro in Paris, rolling in as the last finisher of the 273km race.

His achievement marks a milestone 40 years in the making, following in the footsteps of Ernest Buule and Muharud Mukasa, who last represented Uganda at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

The crowd were genuinely appreciative of the 25-year-old’s unbreakable spirit in his fight to write his name into history as the first Ugandan Olympic cyclist in 40 years.

According to Cycling Weekly, there was a moment, when the crowds in the stands at Trocadéro erupted into cheers.

Riders halted their post-race interviews, and looked back over their shoulders in the media zone. Photographers, who had left their finish line positions, swivelled on their feet, pointing their cameras back towards the Eiffel Tower. Some rose onto their tiptoes to try and see the source of the commotion.

The roar, they quickly discovered, had been for Charles Kagimu. The 25-year-old crossed the line alone in Paris, wearing shorts salty with sweat, and a white Uganda jersey.

Of the 90 riders who started the race, Kagimu was the last one home, over four minutes adrift of his nearest competitor, finishing in 77th place.

He lifted his left hand from his bars, and saluted the masses as he rolled across the line.

“They gave me a lot of motivation to finish this race,” he said. “It was a really crazy atmosphere.”

The Ugandan rode most of the city-centre finishing circuit by himself. With a determination to complete the race, he found himself willed on by the atmosphere in Montmartre, Paris’s dainty tourist district.

“I was at the front for almost 190km,” Kagimu said.

He went on: “We knew the good guys would catch us so it was nice to have a head start and do our own pace on the front. After the guys caught us the pace was quite high and I decided to ride my own pace.”

Kagimu is no stranger to epic racing, having completed a brutal edition of the Unbound Gravel 200 last year with Team Amani, but the Olympics were another level of intensity with streets packed 10-deep with screaming fans.

The atmosphere inspired Kagimu to fight through the major setback of falling seriously ill after the opening ceremony.

“After the opening ceremony, I was really sick. I had a really bad flu and on Saturday I literally couldn’t get out of bed. So being here and being able to finish the race is such a huge accomplishment,” Kagimu told Cyclingnews.

Who is Kagimu?

Born 15 September 1998 in Kampala, Central Uganda, Kagimu was the Flagbearer for the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony (2024).

Under Ride United (NED) club, Kagimu first started riding at the age of five or six. He took it seriously from age 14.

He used to ride his bike six kilometres to school but once his mother could no longer pay the fees he had to leave. With more spare time, he started competing in local races.

He won the gold medal in the time trial at the 2023 African Games (held in 2024) in Accra, Ghana. It was Uganda’s first gold medal in cycling at the African Games.

He represented Uganda at the 2018 and 2022 Commonwealth Games, with a 19th-place finish in the time trial in Birmingham (GBR) in 2022 and a 20th-place finish in the road race on the Gold Coast, QLD, Australia in 2018 among his best results.

He also won the time trial at the 2023 Road Cycling African Continental Championships in Accra, Ghana