Person of the Week for the week of August 16, 2020: Joshua Cheptegei

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The Athletics Illustrated Person of the Week honours for the week of August 16, 2020, goes to Ugandan distance runner Joshua Cheptegei.
Cheptegei broke Kenenisa Bekele’s 5000m world record during the
Monaco Diamond League meet. Bekele set the record at 12:37.35 during the
2004 Hengelo Diamond League meet in the Netherlands. 

Cheptegei added more gloss to his remarkable streak of recent success by breaking the world 5000m record in the time of 12:35.36 at the Herculis EBS Diamond League meet in Monaco.

“I’ve learned that anything is possible if you have the right mindset and beliefs. I really thank Kenenisa so much for inspiring me when I started running. He has always been a big inspiration and motivation to me. This record is a special moment for me and I like to thank Kenenisa for his inspiration.”

At the 2018 London World Athletics Championships, he earned a silver medal in the 10,000m event. At the 2019 World’s in Doha, he won gold in the same event. In Monaco earlier this year he set a new 5K road record running 12:51. He also owns the national two-mile (track) and 10K road record as well as the world 15K record at 41:05 set in 2018.

The Athletics Illustrated Person of the Week recognition is an endeavour that aims to recognise noteworthy or newsworthy achievements, actions or events in the sport of athletics by individuals who are involved or have affected the sport in some way.

The weekly decision will be the discretion of Athletics Illustrated, however, input from readers is welcome.

At the end of each year, the Person of the Week honours will be reviewed and featured along with a Person of the Year recognition taken from the list of weekly honours.

If you feel someone should be recognised, please register, login, and provide the person’s name and reason.