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Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the men’s 10000m race during the World Athletics Championships in Oregon. World and Olympic distance running champion Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda will make his marathon debut at the end of the year, his management said on Sunday. Michael Kappeler/dpa
World and Olympic distance running champion Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda will make his marathon debut at the end of the year, his management said on Sunday.
A statement said that Cheptegei will run for the first time over the 42.195 kilometres distance on December 3 in Valencia.
“Valencia is a very special place to me,” said Chetegei who set the 10,000m and 10km road race world records in the Spanish city. He also owns the 5,000m world record.
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Cheptegei, 26, won 10,000 gold at the 2019 and 2022 worlds, plus silver in 2017. At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, he won 5,000m gold and 10,000m silver.
“I feel it is time to expand my horizon, I have been running on the track for 10 years now,” he said.
“I always had full focus on the track distances, while I knew the marathon was waiting for me. It is an ambition that I am really excited to go for, it will be new and challenging.”
The Valencia course is fast, with the course record by Kenya’s Kelvin Kiptum just 44 seconds shy of Eliud Kipchoge’s world record 2 hours 1 minute 9 seconds.
Cheptegei said that he would return to track running at next year’s Paris Olympics and then decide on his future. He is also set to run on the track at this year’s worlds in Budapest.
Story and Photo:DPA