Cheptegei, Nakaayi dominate USPA Awards

Female Athlete of the Year 2019 Halima Nakaayi has advised upcoming and fellow sportsmen to always persevere and chess their dreams to the end.

Nakaayi was giving her acceptance speech after receiving her award during the Nile Special USPA gala at Serena Hotel on Wednesday.

"Success is a choice. No matter where you come from, no matter your size, tribe, you can become whatever you become as long as you chase your dream. I and Nanyondo have chased ours for years," Nakaayi said.

Since 2010 Nakaayi has represented the country at various competitions which she said had been down to hard work, sacrifice and determination.

She gave an account of how in 2012 she collapsed during an Independence race organized by the UPDF in Bombo and was actually pronounced dead during the relay format marathon but bounced back after the incident even after being discouraged by her parents after the incident.

"It was mentally torturing but I recovered from the incident and gained my confidence. Many other people have tried to bring me down but I have always fought for my dream.

"If you want to start, start today. I would like to encourage the youth to identify their strength and chase their dreams," Nakaayi said.

She thanked the media, UOC, UAF, Uganda Wildlife Authority, Global Sports Communication, and the National Council of Sports for the support they have rendered to her as she chased her dream.

Nile Special brand manager Francis Nyende said they have continued to partner with USPA over the years because they had continued to reward outstanding sportsmen and that they would like to see USPA prosper beyond the 50 years.

"We want to see USPA grow even beyond 100 years and as a business, it is a journey that we would like to take. USPA celebrates Uganda's greatness and Nile Special speaks to that," Nyende stated.

USPA president Patrick Kanyomozi thanked the various sponsors for sticking with the association and most especially Nile Special for enabling the 2019 event to happen amid the pandemic.

He called on the government to reduce data costs and OTT so that the information that is disseminated by the journalists can easily be consumed by as many people as possible.

"As sports journalists, we also strive for the growth of the sports sector because if it goes we also go, we, therefore, appeal to the government to look into the disappearance of many sports grounds and facilities across the country," Kanyomozi stated.

"We appreciate the efforts to finally complete the High Altitude Center in Teryet but we wish the giving out of sports grounds to other investors that hampers sports development is stopped,"

He said the sports industry is a multi-billion one and appealed to the government and other stakeholders to invest in sports so that the country's and individual athletes' images can continue to prosper. He also appealed to sportsmen to continue observing the safe operating procedures amid the pandemic in order to stay safe.

NCS Chairman Donald Rukare who presided over the event congratulated USPA for making 50 years of vibrant and relevant existence and all the winners for making it to the podium.

He also asked the association to enter into a formal relationship with NCS in order to tackle the different sporting challenges as a team.

Current 5000 and 10000m World Record holder Joshua Cheptegei was crowned the Nile Special USPA Sportsman of the Year (2019) in absentia at the gala held at the Serena Hotel. He also took the Athlete of the Year Award and the online Fans Choice of the Year Awards.

Cheptegei who is also the World Cross Country champion, won the 35th edition gala top award having set the athletics scene alight in 2019 when he won the World Cross Country championship took the 5000m Diamond League championship as well as picking a 10000m World Championship gold. This was the second award for Cheptegei who also won the 2018 award. It was the 17th time that an athlete was winning the award.

Cranes striker Emmanuel Okwi was the other top nominee who was beaten to the top award.

Others high ranking personnel that graced the event included sponsors' representatives; Francis Nyende (Nile Breweries), FUFA CEO Edgar Watson, Standard Chartered Bank's Cynthia Mpanga, former USPA president Douglas Mazune among other guests and sportsmen.

Despite being held in a scientific way the gala was glamorous with all invited guests adhering to the black-tie dress code.

On the entertainment side, the ageless Afrigo Band was at hand to entertain the guests with all their old-time classics. The event was also used to celebrate the USPA's 50 years since inception.

Sportsman of the Year: Joshua Cheptegei (Athletics)

Team of the Year: Women U-17 team (Football)

Fans Choice Award: Joshua Cheptegei (Athletics)

Best Organized Event: Uganda Golf Open

Best Run Federation: Uganda Athletics Federation

Legendary Award: Neko Muduse Ojara (Volleyball)