Joshua Cheptegei missed the men’s 5000m final as the 19th edition of the Africa Senior Athletics Championships concluded on Thursday night.
The 17-year-old World Junior 10000m champion did not start in the 12-and-a-half lap race that was won by Kenyan Caleb Ndiku at the Stade de Marrakech.
Reigning Commonwealth champion Ndiku who strolled home in a time of 13:34.27. Another Kenyan Isaiah Kiplangat (13:35.73) took silver while Eritrean Abrar Osman (13:36.42) got bronze.
Meanwhile, another Ugandan Thomas Ayeko finished a distant after clocking 13 minutes and 51.61 seconds.
Cheptegei missed action and his absence was majorly inclined to the fact that there were high temperatures of about 39°C in Marrakech.
Overall, it was the second time Cheptegei was missing a race in Morocco having opted out on the 10000m final last weekend.
The result means that the five-man team left North Africa for Kampala empty handed. This abysmal show is the seventh time Uganda has failed to win a medal in the competition’s 19 editions.
AFRICA SENIOR ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS
MEN’S 5000M FINAL RESULT
1 Caleb Ndiku (KEN) 13:34.27
2 Isaiah Kiplangat (KEN) 13:35.73
3 Abrar Osman (ERI) 13:36.42
4 Joseph Kitur (KEN) 13:39.12
5 Yenew Alamirew (ETH) 13:45.86
6 Olivier Irabaruta (BDI) 13:46.21
7 Thomas Ayeko (UGA) 13:51.61