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"It could have been worse."

Those were the words of a shaken but relieved Jacob Kiplimo after the vehicle he was driving skidded off a wet road in Uganda's eastern district of Kween on Wednesday.

The 23-year-old star athlete, who was fresh from successfully defending his world cross country senior title in Belgrade, Serbia, was in the driver's seat and survived the terrifying ordeal with minor injuries.

Onlookers helped him out of the grey double-cabin, which got a dent on the driver's side.

Kiplimo was driving back to his village when his vehicle skidded off the slippery road in hilly Kween on the morning of Wednesday.

This happened a few kilometres from his destination on the Kamunerket-Mengya Road.

"I am not sure how much body damage internally this could have caused to me, but I am grateful to God for shielding me. It could have been worse," said the world-class long-distance runner moments after being helped out of the vehicle.

He was then driven to nearby Kapchorwa town for medical treatment.

Only four days ago, Kiplimo produced an impressive performance to successfully defend his world cross country title in Serbia's capital Belgrade.

The three East African athletics powerhouses of Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda dominated the one-day competition, finishing in that same order in the rankings.

Kiplimo was Team Uganda's only individual medallist. Overall, Uganda bagged five medals (one gold, one silver and three bronze) against Kenya's table-topping 11 medals and Ethiopia's 10. Great Britain was the only other medalist with one bronze.

It is not yet clear how Wednesday's incident in Kween will affect Kiplimo's road to the Paris Summer Olympics, which get under way in late July.

Residents blamed the crash on the poor state of roads in Kween, particularly the road to Kiplimo's home in Benet sub-county. 

"These athletes live dangerously in these areas given the dire state of roads, mostly during rainy seasons," said resident Roger Barishaki.

The athletics fraternity will have breathed a collective sigh of relief after Kiplimo survived the crash.

In February this year, Kenya's world record-holding marathon runner Kelvin Kiptum died in a car crash in western Kenya.

The 24-year-old athlete lost control of his vehicle and was killed alongside his Rwandan coach, Gervais Hakizimana, in a tragedy that shocked the running world.

Kiptum had only four months before shaved some 34 seconds off compatriot Eliud Kipchoge's previous world marathon record to set a new one of 2:00.35.