Cheptegei's candle has lit our dark covid nights

Joshua Cheptegei. The kid is good. He's very very good and at the moment, this 24-year-old Ugandan long-distance runner seems to have no human limits. Who is Kenenisa Bekele? An Ethiopian athlete god.

But tell that to Uganda's own Cheptegei who in August at the Monaco Diamond league broke the Ethiopian's 16-year-old standing record in the 5000 meters by over 2 seconds to set a new one of 12:35.36. The world took a bow then. The boy from Kapchorwa district was not finished and last Saturday, he tore down another Bekele record of 15 years, this time in the 10,000 meters by more than 6 seconds. He broke the internet.

At a time when Ugandan sports has been put on hold and many feared the sector would go to sleep, then Cheptegei!  Watching Bekele during his prime was a privilege. Breaking and setting new records over long distances had become his second nature. He was Ethiopia's biggest brand.

The mood he created in the stadium whenever he got onto the track was as euphoric and nerve-wracking as Usain Bolt with his 100 meters sprint races. Fast forward to covid -19 year;  Cheptegei.

As he raced to a new world record of 26:11.10 in Valencia last Saturday, the feeling to thousands of cheering Ugandans on television was nostalgic. The Ugandan looked so relaxed, natural and so commanding, you would think he had mapped out the route himself. The nearer he came to completing the 10,000 meters, the faster he ran, it seemed. Bekele used to show signs of stress and superhuman effort as he stretched gaps between himself and the chasing pack on the way to the finish line. Cheptegei looked as though he was gliding instead of racing.

The smile he wore as he approached the white line told of an athlete who has surpassed the boundaries of human endeavor. On completion, he stopped, looked at his watch, broke into a seductive smile, looked up to the heavens, and shouted hallelujah! He looked behind to see where the chasing pack was and shook his head. This was his track. His yard. Now a legend in his own right with the world still at his feet. As he accepted the Ugandan flag which was gracefully delivered by an adoring fan, he took a bow and a knee at the time board to confirm his legend. He holds the world record for 15 km road race, 5 km road race, and is a world cross country champion as well.

Speculating over his future at this time is an exercise in futility. A former Ugandan president General Iddi Amin, once suggested that for a Ugandan to win boxing gold at the Olympics, they needed to deliver a knockout rather than outnumbering points over their opponent. The young Cheptegei has probably read this part of our sporting history and decided to act on the advice. He didn't just run the perfect race, he raised the bar for long-distance running.  

It isn't that he is the first Ugandan to break a sporting record, it is, that his manner was so dominant, it scared the life out of his fellow competitors. The temptation now is to make him the reference for young athletes but that is what he is exactly; a young athlete. The stronger message perhaps is for the Ugandan government which is still struggling to find the correct ranking for sports on the list of priorities. As we cheered  Cheptegei to victory, most of us - if not all -  wished we were there in the stadium to be recorded as part of his history-making moment.

The Crane and black, yellow, red colours looked so beautiful, we forgot the problems that sometimes make us regret we were born in this part of the world. That is the magic of sport. Moments like these unite a country and create a patriotic feeling that no political victory can. Cheptegei is our candle in what has been a dark sporting year.