Joshua Cheptegei after winning his back to back gold medal in 10,000 km in Budapest
Gold Medal winners, Joshua Cheptegei and Victor Kiplangat were unanimously voted as the joint winners of, The USPA Nile Special Sports Personalities for August, 2023.
Joshua Cheptegei successfully defended his 10,000m World title at the 2023 World
Athletics Championship in Budapest, Hungary, becoming the first Ugandan to win back to back the prestigious World title competitions, while Victor Kiplangat who became the second Ugandan to win the Marathon World title by triumphing in the 42KM race in Budapest last month.
Victor Kiplangat celebrating after winning the 42 km marathon in Budapest
Fred Mugerwa, the She Cranes head coach, received the Supportive Award for guiding
Uganda to fifth place at the 2023 Netball World Cup. Mugerwa garned 295 votes, beating the Athletics coach Benjamin Njia, who polled 265 votes.
She Cranes Coach Fred Mugerwa Ssaalong stressing a point.
The Fourteen-year-old Badminton player Eric Ofoyuru was awarded the Promising Young
Talent Award after trouncing his two fellow younger stars from other sports disciplines with 225 votes. He bagged gold for Uganda in the U16 singles at the East Africa tournament.
The Cricket Cranes, who retained the East Africa T20 Cup in Kigali, Rwanda, were highly praised for their performance, winning 11 out of 12 games played against Rwanda and Tanzania.
Other commendations included Jacob Sande winning bronze in the 1500m at the
Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad and Tobago, clocking a time of 3:37.66.
Victor Cherotich also secured bronze in the 3000m Steeplechase at the same games with a time of 8:19.31.
The Uganda Scrabble team, which finished second in the PANASA Championship in Nigeria, was recognized, with Richard Geria and Edgar Odongkara’s extraordinary performance, ranking fifth and sixth out of 124 players in the Secondary Schools Games in Rwanda, finishing runner-up in the U19 category and reaching the semi-finals in the U17 category. His performances elevated his school, Kakungulu Memorial, to a silver medal at the same games.
Furthermore, Professor Badru Kateregga of Kampala University received the Sporting Award for his immense contribution to sports something that has enriched the careers of athletes and teams as well.
The Plascon – USPA Awards August 2023 for the Print and Website media was worn by Daren Allan Kyeyune from Daily Monitor for his story titled, ` Teamwork fight trust She Cranes in Cape Town’ his second accolade since the initiation of motivating awards by USPA three months ago and for the Broadcast was scooped by Davis Mugume after his story titled, ‘The rise of Basketball Player Lydia Babirye’.
Meanwhile, the 2021-2022 Nile Special USPA Gala has been rescheduled by a week, as confirmed by the association’s president, Moses Alsayed Lubega, during the monthly assembly at the Imperial Royale Hotel on Monday morning. Initially it was slated to take place on September 16th, 2023, the Gala will now occur at the Imperial Royale Hotel on September 23rd, 2023.
Lubega explained: “The date was amended to ensure we cover all the necessary details for the day. We expect over 500 guests and plan to ensure the gathering gets the attention and grandeur it deserves.”
USPA members were also educated on how the new National Sports ACT 2023 will impact on their work, positively or negatively, with insights provided by FUFA Legal Director Denis Lukambi.
By George Bukenya
For any comment or story idea reach on 0770 845082/ 0756 749901 or email: bgbukenya@gmail.com