Cheptegei had to give up life’s cravings for the crown

You have to give to get, and no one understands this better than a successful person, or one aspiring.

But for this particular chore, we shall take an athlete. You have got to be ready to give up almost everything for you to make it at the highest level. 

Uneducated comfort, directionless eating, partying, hard beverages, name it… All those have to take a back seat for you to remain focused on the prize.

And if the prize is one you swear by God will define your career in a given field, then you have to give up even more.

Three-time world champion and record holder in 5,000m and 10,000m, Joshua Cheptegei, has won nearly everything in his way since 2014, including 5,000m gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

But it is the 10,000m gold at the Olympics that was still missing from his long-distance cabinet.

“I can’t describe the feeling,” said Cheptegei, 27, after finally filling that void last Friday in an Olympic record-breaking time of 26 minutes, 43 seconds , and 14 micro-seconds.

“I’ve wanted this for a long time. When I took silver in Tokyo, I was disappointed. I just wanted to win the 10,000m.”

Yet, before the newly crowned 10,000m Olympic champion and record breaker obliterated a field of elite runners from athletics powerhouses Kenya and Ethiopia, in Paris, it had hardly been a confident build-up. 

He had arrived in Paris on the back of a no race victory across four attempts in the whole of 2024, with his last race in Oslo, Norway in May seeing him finish a distant ninth. 

Clearly, some things had to change if Cheptegei was to defy his poor build-up to beat competitors that had beaten him in competitions leading up to Paris.

He had to go underground and put in the work. “I focused on my training the whole of this year,” said the new 10,000m Olympics king, “The coach gave me a strict training schedule that I followed to the dot.

“June and July were very rainy seasons in Kapchorwa, but we trained even during rain. And the rain would be heavy and stormy many times.”

In an era where dopamine cooperates with the internet and social media to devastating effect, Cheptegei - who spoke exclusively to the Monitor  on Sunday - knew he had to guard himself.

He understood that starving the neuromodulatory molecule would help him fix all the finer details.

“And in April,” he explained, “I deactivated WhatsApp and got off social media.” His social media accounts, however, continued being functional because he has a team that runs them.

“Being off social media gave me enough time to rest,” explained the man, whose humility pales in comparison to his iconic feats.

“I would go to bed at 9pm and wake up between 5.50am and 6am. On days like Thursday and Sunday, when we have to do long runs and temple runs in Bulambuli, we wake up at 5.30am.”

Elite runners preparing for, say, a 5,000m and 10,000m Major or Olympics, put in training shifts of between 150km and 200km a week. 

To tune up for the warm highs of Paris - June to August alternates between lows of 13 degrees and highs of 25 - “we created an air-tight climate room at the camp,” Cheptegei further explained. 

“It’s like a sauna with heaters. We would heat it to over 30 degrees, then would enter and do a treadmill (run) in it.” 

Because of the energy endurance running demands, Cheptegei and his colleagues’ diet “remained heavy on carbs.” In the end, it all paid off.

For now, Cheptegei’s participation in the 5,000m on Wednesday remains a lottery only he and his managers will play. But one thing is for sure, marathon running is his next calling. 

CHEPTEGEI AT A GLANCE

Date of birth: Sept 12, 1996

Major races: 5,000m, 10,000m

Personal bests: 5,000m (12:35.36), 10,000m (26:11.00), 21km (59:21)

Coach: Addy Ruiter

Manager: Jurrie van der Velden

Kit Sponsor: Nike

Cheptegei in 2024

Mar 30: World X-Country (6th, 28:24)

Mar 16: Laredo 10K (2nd, 25:53)

Cheptegei in 2023

Dec 3: Valencia Marathon (37th, 2:08:59)

Aug 20: Budapest Worlds 10,000m Final (1st, 27:51.42)

June 30: Lausanne DL (2nd, 12:41.61)

Jun 2: Florence DL (4th, 12:53.81)

Mar 19: New York Half-Marathon (2nd, 1:02:09)

Feb 18: World X-Country (3rd, 29:37)

Cheptegei at major championships

2014 World Junior Champs: 4th, 5,000m (13:32.84)

2014 World Junior Champs: 1st, 10,000m (28:32.86)

2014 African Champs: DNF, 10,000m (DNF)

2015 African Junior Champs: 1st, 10,000m (29:58.70)

2015 World Champs Beijing: 9th, 10,000m (27:48.89)

2016 Olympic Games Rio: 8th, 5,000m (13:09.17)

2016 Olympic Games Rio: 6th, 10,000m (27:10.06)

2017 World Cross-country: 30th, Senior race (30:08)

2017 World Champs London: 2nd, 10,000m (26:49.94)

2018 Commonwealth Games Gold Coast: 1st, 5,000m (13:50.83)

2018 Commonwealth Games Gold Coast: 1st, 10,000m (27:19.62)

2019 World Cross-country Champs: 1st, 10km (31:40)

2019 World Champs Doha: 1st, 10,000m (26:48.36)

2020 World Half-Marathon Champs: 4th (Men’s 21km)

2020 Tokyo Olympics: 2nd, 10,000m (27:43.63)

2020 Tokyo Olympics: 1st, 5,000m (12:58.15)

2022 World Champs Oregon: 1st, 10,000m (27:27.43)

2023 World Cross-country Champs: 3rd, 10km (29:37)

2022 World Champs Oregon: 9th, 5,000m (13:13.12)

2023 World Champs Budapest: 1st, 10,000m (27:51.42)

2024 World Cross-country Champs: 6th, 10km (28:24)

2024 Paris Olympics: 1st, 10,000m (26:43.13)