The US-based athlete clocked in at 20.32 seconds to take first place in heat two, narrowly edging out Bahamian sprinter McCoy, who finished in 20.35 seconds, and Brazil's Correa, who came third with a time of 20.41 seconds.
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Tarsis orogot. Courtesy Picture
Ugandan sprinter Tarsis
Orogot secured a spot in the men’s 200-meter semi-final after winning his
heat at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Monday evening.
The US-based athlete
clocked in at 20.32 seconds to take first place in heat two, narrowly edging
out Bahamian sprinter McCoy, who finished in 20.35 seconds, and Brazil's
Correa, who came third with a time of 20.41 seconds.
Despite his
victory, Orogot's time was the slowest among all six heat winners, a concern as
he heads into the semi-finals, where heat four and five winners ran under 20
seconds.
“I’m an Olympian. Just a
boy with a dream”, he briefly posted on X after the race. He will now take part
in the semi-final slated this Wednesday, 7th August 2024.
Orogot holds significant
promise as he is the first Ugandan male sprinter at the Olympics since Davis
Kamoga, who won bronze in the 400 meters at the Atlanta 1996 Games. Since 1996, Uganda has
struggled to produce sprinters capable of competing at the Olympic level. Specifically,
he will compete in the 200 meters, making him the first Ugandan to do so in 32
years, since Francis Ogola at the 1992 Barcelona Games.
Meanwhile, middle-distance runner Leonard Chemutai also advanced
to the Men’s 3000m Steeplechase final after finishing second in Heat One with
his season’s best time of 8:18.19. Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali won the heat
with a time of 8:17.90.
He will now compete for a
medal on Wednesday hoping to join the team captain Joshua Cheptegei who has
already been crowned the champion of the men’s 10000-meter distance, the first-ever Ugandan to win the race at the Olympic games.
