Joshua Cheptegei Nominated for 2020 Laureus World Sportsman Award

Uganda’s long-distance runner Joshua Cheptegei has been nominated for the Laureus World Sportsman of the year award 2020.

Cheptegei has been nominated alongside other five international athletes who include USA’s Basketball player LeBron James, Poland’s football player Robert Lewandowski who plays for German club Bayern Munich, Spain’s Tennis player Rafael Nadal, United Kingdom’s Motor racer Lewis Hamilton, and Swedish pole vaulter  Armand Duplantis.

Last week, Cheptegei defended his title of 5,000 meters run in Monaco, France. He had previously broken Kenenisa Bekele’s record that had stood for 16 years.

The Laureus World Sports Award for Sportsman of the Year is an annual award honouring the achievements of individual men from the world of sports. It is part of The Laureus World Sports Awards which is an annual award ceremony honouring individuals and teams from the world of sports along with sporting achievements throughout the year.

The award is currently held by United Kingdom’s Lewis Hamilton and Argentina’s Football player Lionel Messi who captains the Argentina National team and Spanish club Barcelona football club.   In 2020, Joshua Cheptegei at a road race in Monaco, set a new world road 5 km record of 12:51, breaking through the event's 13-minute barrier, taking 9 seconds from the previous best time of 13:00, set by Kenya's Sammy Kipketer in 2000.

In August, at the Monaco Diamond League meet, he set a new 5000 metres world record of 12:35.36, breaking Kenenisa Bekele's 16-year-old world record of 12:37.35 set in Hengelo.

In October in Valencia, he set a world record time of 26:11.00 in the 10,000 meters, which again improved on Kenenisa Bekele's 15-year-old record by more than 6 seconds. 

On the 14th February he retained his Monaco Run title to mark a perfect start to his 2021 season posting 13:11.   After being nominated Cheptegei expressed his happiness via his Twitter. “I am honoured to be nominated beside Armand Duplantis, Lewis Hamilton Lebron James, Robert Lewandowski, Rafael Nadal for Laureus Sports World Sportsman of the year,”  Cheptegei said.