KAMPALA, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Uganda's leading athlete Joshua Cheptegei has said that his country has what it takes to continue producing more world stars.
Chepetegi, the reigning 10,000m world champion, said on Wednesday that Uganda continues to produce many youngsters who are getting better and better at the world stage and the future looks bright.
"Me and Jacob Kiplimo have dominated the world scene for some time and this has motivated many youngsters to keep working hard so that they can achieve it at the big stage. I see the future looks very bright for Uganda to have several athletes dominating at the world stage," added the star athlete.
Cheptegei won 5,000m gold medal and a silver in 10,000m at the Tokyo Olympics, while Kiplimo took a bronze in 10,000m at the same event.
"We continue to show a good example that hard work pays off and we also motivate the younger athletes so that they keep working hard to be able to achieve it. We are lucky that there is now a good training place in Kapchorwa, while the Uganda Athletics Federation is working hard to see that it has a good atmosphere to keep improving," he added.
Besides Cheptegei and Kiplimo, Uganda has also produced top athletes in the last 10 years, like London Olympic marathon gold medalist Stephen Kiprotich, Moses Kipsiro, Peruth Chemutai and Halimah Nakaayi.
Cheptegei and Kiplimo are some of Uganda's top medal prospects at the Paris Olympics from July 26 to August 11. ■