Seth Akampa shines at East Africa University Games, sets sights on global glory

Long-distance runner Seth Akampa has continued to establish himself as a promising athlete for Uganda after dominating the long-distance races at the recently concluded East Africa University Games in Kisumu, Kenya.

Akampa, a final-year law student at Bishop Stuart University (BSU) Mbarara, achieved his goal by winning both the 5000m and 10,000m races at the games, which concluded on Friday at Maseno University.

His victories not only made him one of the few Ugandan runners to win both races at the 13-year-old games but also earned him his first gold medals at the event, which attracts top talent from institutions across the region.

Akampa first won the 5000m in 14 minutes and 48 seconds, then clinched the 10,000m victory in 30 minutes and 40 seconds, joining the ranks of notable Ugandan university runners like Wilson Kipkemei Busienei who have achieved this feat.

These victories propelled BSU to 15th place among the 32 universities that participated in the games, 8th among the 16 universities representing Uganda, and 3rd place for the men's athletics team—the best performance ever for the Mbarara institution at these games.

How He Did It

After winning the national inter-university games 10,000m, Akampa declared, "the best of me is yet to come," and he is living up to that promise.

Akampa's determination as an athlete only became evident after he joined the Mbarara-based institution, as his school years at Kyabenda SS Kamwenge were not particularly remarkable.

Before the games, Akampa balanced two demanding fronts: revising for his end-of-semester exams and training hard for the competition, which helped him stay focused.

“I am happy that I have not been training for nothing. I was encouraged by my teammates who were also winning silver and bronze medals, and that Ugandan athletes made it feel like a family no matter the different institutions we were from,” Akampa said.

He added, “When the shouts of my name came from everyone from Ndejje, UCU, Kyambogo, Gulu, Mountains of the Moon, KIU, KU, all of them, I was more encouraged and I did not want to let their cheers die out.”

Akampa went on to lap his opponent from hosts Maseno University in the 10,000m before finishing unchallenged, a rare occurrence at the games.

His Future Targets

In Kisumu, Akampa was coming off a win in the national university games 10,000m gold and 5000m silver, following his heroics at the world cross country championship in Muscat, Oman, where he won gold.

Having won his first East Africa University Games double gold, Akampa celebrates a double achievement: he has automatically qualified for the Uganda team for the World University Games in May 2025 in Germany.

“I have set my targets for that as well. I want to work hard so that I win the 10,000m gold and retain it for Uganda because it was us (Dismas Yeko) who won it in 2023,” Akampa says.

As he completes his university education next year, Akampa looks forward to joining the national senior team and aiming for berths in the Commonwealth Games and the Olympics.