Ugandan long distance runner Joshua Cheptegei feels it was “not” his day after he finished a distant sixth at the 2021 Diamond League meet in Florence, Italy on Thursday.
Cheptegei took control of the 5000m race through three splits (2000m, 3000m, and 4000m) but ran out of steam towards the end to relinquish victory to 20-year old Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigsten.
The Kapchorwa-based athlete posted a season’s best of 12:54.69 but couldn’t come close to Jakob’s 12:48:45 – a European record, also the fastest run this year.
Speaking after the race, Cheptegei said there is room for victory for the Silverback after the tough outing in Florence.
“Yesterday was not my day. But the Silverback will keep on fighting towards the Olympics in Tokyo!!! Huge congratulations to Jakob Ingebrigtsen for your amazing European Record,@ he wrote on social media.
The race was the 10,000m world record holder’s last race before the Tokyo Olympics set for July 23 to 8 August.