When top medal prospect Moses Ndiema Kipsiro bowed out at the last minute, Ugandans back home kept fingers crossed for a medal at the ongoing Africa Senior Athletics Championships.
Kipsiro had won silver in 10000m at the previous edition in Nairobi in 2010.
3000m steeplechase Benjamin Kiplagat finally met luck and fortune. The Ugandan ran a time of 8:18.73, finishing third in the finals of the water jump race at the Charles de Gaulle stadium in Porto Novo.
Kiplagat finished behind Kenyan duo of Abel Mutai and Wilson Maraba. Mutai was first to cross the finish line on 8:16.05 and Maraba followed 00.91 seconds later.
Kiplagat will now concentrate on ending Uganda’s 16-year Olympic medal drought with the games just a month away.
Born in Magoro, the Ugandan is among the 15 athletes who have already made it to the Olympics.