Martin Okoth Ochola, the Police Inspector General, has confirmed Joshua Cheptegei and Peruth Chemutai’s promotion for their outstanding performances at the just concluded 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
Martin Okoth Ochola, Inspector General of Police, has approved the promotion of runners Joshua Cheptegei and Peruth Chemutai for their outstanding performances in the recently concluded 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
Cheptegei and Chemutai each won a gold medal in the men’s 5,000m finals and in the women’s 3000m steeplechase race respectively to grant Uganda a second-place finish out of the 54 African countries and 35th overall among 206 countries that took part in the 2020 Olympics games.
Speaking about the memorable performance, IGP Ochola applauded all those who represented the country in great style.
He in particular pinpointed the two gold medal winners who he said are now leaving in the footsteps of the SP John Akii-Bua, who was the first athlete to bring a gold medal for Uganda at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich.
“I want to personally thank IP Joshua Cheptegei, who pulled off two incredible performances, to become a double medalist, with gold in the 5000m race, and a silver in the 10.000m race. And also greatly thank SPC Peruth Chemutai , who made history and became the first female police athlete to win a gold medal, when she won it in the 3000m steeple chase.”
“I thank you for emulating our fallen hero, the late SSP John Akii-Bua, who was the first athlete to win gold for Uganda at the 1972 Olympic games in Munich, when he won the 400 meters hurdles. He was also from Police,” Ochola said.
In addition, he thanked all those participants including those who were not winners for representing the country. Ochola raised that amidst all the challenges including the coronavirus pandemic while preparing for the games, the runners remained very committed.
“To all the other athletes who represented the country, but fell short of the medals, I do thank them too, and ask them not to give up. We are aware the preparations for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics were challenging due to the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Ochola added.
“You however, managed to inspire us when you showed how committed, dedicated, resilient, determined and hard working you were, that enabled you to excel at the highest level of competition. I also want to thank the hard work of all the coaches, staff under the Sports Department and the commitment from the Government of Uganda.”
He further sent out his special thanks to IGP Emeritus General Kale Kayihura for revamping sports in the police in the year 2012.
Ochola said the story of how the police got to the Olympics and achieved spectacular accomplishments, was as a result of Kayihura’s strategic guidance.
“As I conclude, I would like to reassure all athletes that there is a bright future of sports in the police. We want to continue to invest in identifying young talent across all sports disciplines and grow them. My Director for Welfare and Sports is going to straight away start preparations for the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France, where we anticipate a bigger number of police officers representing our country Uganda.”
