Many didn’t expect it from him but the last Ugandan participant at the London 2012 olympics had other ideas! Stephen Kiprotich has done his country proud! He has won the men’s marathon picking Gold in 2:08.01. He wins Uganda’s first medal in 16 years and the first gold since Akii Bua in 1972!
He started well keeping pace with the leading pack of Kenyans and Ethiopians. By the half hour mark, Kiprotich was interchanging positions with Kenyans. Its toward the 36KM mark that he broke out to lead till the end. with a few metres to go, Kiprotich knew he had won it, picked a flag from a fan and crossed the finish line to the joy of several Ugandans back home!
Out of the 16 Ugandan representatives, 15 had already tried and failed without a single medal. Our last medal was picked in 1996 Atlanta games by Davis Kamoga. All hopes were gone and many didn’t think Kiprotich would beat the Kenyan trio of Emmanuel Mutai, Wilson Kipsang and Abel Kirui.