Joshua Cheptegei Net Worth: Age, Bio, Wife, Endorsements & Charity

Joshua Cheptegei is a Ugandan long-distance runner with an estimated net worth of $4 million.

He was born on 12 September 1996 in Kapsewui, Kapchorwa District, Uganda. In early age, Cheptegei played soccer in primary school. He also tried long jump and triple jump but soon realized distance-running is his hidden talent.

Cheptegei started running and soon realized that he is faster than his all friends. He then began training under coach Addy Ruiter. He also joined police to earn and bear his expenses.

In this article, we will discuss Joshua Cheptegei’s early life, biography, his personal life and marriage, how he get into distance-running, his endorsements, his foundation and charity work, and his life’s quick facts. So read till end!

Quick Facts

Early Life & Biography

Joshua Cheptegei was born on 12 September 1996 in Kapchorwa District, Uganda. Joshua Cheptegei grew up with his parents who are farmers and lived a normal life in rural area. Cheptegei was just an ordinary student but later turned out to be one of Uganda’s most successful athletes.

When he was young, he played football and wanted to become a soccer player. He also tried long jump and triple jump but soon he realized that running is his hidden talent. Due to his poor family conditions, he could not follow his passion.

Cheptegei and his family resides in his birth village. They belong to “Sabiny” Tribe who are mostly live on Mount Elgon. Sabiny tribe is the sub-tribe of Kalenjins who are famous to produce best athletes in the world.

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Education

Joshua Cheptegei attended Kitante Primary School where he spent 6 years from 2001 – 2007. He studied in Kampala for two years where he learned different languages and literature. He was then got employment approval by Uganda National Police.

His father Stephenson Kwalya Munerya and his mother Nadna Oyakawa, both are his motivation. His parents earn for living by doing farming. Joshua Cheptegei don’t want to see his parents doing farming whole life which motivated him and now he is among the best athletes in the world.

At Kitante Primary School, Cheptegei completed PLE and CCEAO exams with satisfactory results. After completing primary education at Kitante Primary School, he joined Mabalingwe High School for his O’Level studies (2007 – 2011). During his time at Mabalingwe High School, he played for Kampala Capital City Authority Football Club (KCCA FC) in 2012/2013 season. In 2014, Joshua Cheptegei won gold medal in 10,000m race during World U20 Championships held in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

Personal Life

Cheptegei is currently 25 years old. He is a married man which he married to love of his life Carol Yeko and couple are blessed with 2 children. His son name is Jethan Cheptegei and Daughter name is Jenima Cheptegei. They met each other early than Cheptegei popularity.

Carol Yeko once quoted that:

“Cheptegei is a close friend to one of my in-laws, and one Sunday, he came to pray from our church. After the main service, he attended our youth meeting, where he was introduced to me, not as a relatively successful athlete but as Cheptegei,”  ~ Carol Yeko

His wife is successful Civil Engineer who is currently running her own company. Moreover, she also helps Cheptegei in running the Cheptegei Development Foundation. This foundation encourage young talent and support underprivileged children.

Age, Height, & Weight

Joshua Cheptegei was born on 12 September 1996 in Kapsewui, Uganda. As of 2022, he is 25 years old. Cheptegei is 5ft 6in (1.67m) tall and weight around 52 kg (115 lbs).

Career

Cheptegei’s professional career in athletics began in 2015 after high school. He participated in 10,000 metres race in the 2015 World Championships held in Beijing which resulted in 9^th position. This was the first great achievement by him. In 2016, he was featured in Rio Olympics where he participated in 5,000 metres race. In this race he ranked on 8^th position. Later on, he ran in 8,000 metres race and got 6^th position.

His improvement in every race motivated him to keep growing. Cheptegei was featured in 2018 Commonwealth Games in Queensland, Australia. He won 2 gold medals in this event. First is of 5,000 metres race and second one is of 10,000 metres race.

These great achievements highlighted him in the town and everyone was talking about his success. At that time, he faced confusion of people that Cheptegei is a Kenyan or not. This issue happened because he shared Kenyan’s Athletes names many time.

In 2018, Cheptegei set the world record of 15km race. He is a four time winner of 15km race. After this, In 2019, he was featured at IAAF World Cross Country Championships held in Aarhus, Denmark. He won this race in 31:40 and covered 10.24 km. His Uganda teammate, Jacob Kiplimo, finished race in 31:44. In 2020, Cheptegei won silver medal in 10,000 metres race and gold medal in 5,000 metres race.

Joshua Cheptegei’s Diet Routine

• Wake up at 5-5:30am.
• Easy run for 60mins with empty stomach (only water).
• Have breakfast at 7:15am. It includes eggs, bread, milk, tea, bananas, and chapatti.
• Rest for 1-2 hours.
• Play board games or listen to Uganda music at 10:30am.
• Eat lunch at 1pm. Lunch includes chicken, beef, rice, vegetables, fruits, beans, and lot of water.
• From 2-4pm do household tasks.
• Do second easy run for 40mins at 4:30pm
• Have snack at 5pm
• Rest & Recovery till 8pm
• Dinner at 8pm. It includes meat, vegetables, beans, ugali, and milk.
• Sleep right at 9pm.

Joshua Cheptegei Speed Session

In speed session, Cheptegei runs for 6km at 3min/km pace. Then he takes few minutes rest and again run 5km at 2:55min/km pace.

After taking few minutes rest, he again run 4km at 2:50min/km pace.

Cheptegei once said “I prefer to complete speed session in one go without taking rest. The reason is it is harder to re-start again. It disturbs your mind.” But still as he runs for many kms’, he need some rest to start again.

Joshua Cheptegei House and Cars

House

Cheptegei is not like other athletes who want luxury lifestyle. Despite his popularity, he lives where he was born. He has a beautiful but simple house where he is living with his wife and children.

In an Interview, his wife, Carol Yeko, said we are proud that even after this much success, we are living a normal life in Uganda.

Cheptegei’s house is a double story and is covered in greenery. Moreover, they do have a small garden where he and his wife do farming.

Once she said, “I was going to dip in the morning and my neighbors were surprised to see me like this. They thought as I am wife of Joshua Cheptegei, the world champion, I should not do this myself and must hire a farmer.”

Cars

Joshua Cheptegei’s has an interesting story about his first car. In 2018 Commonwealth Games, he performance outstanding which help him win gold medal. He not only win just one gold medal, but in sports tournament, he won another gold medal.

Cheptegei became famous due to his outstanding performance and he was the first Ugandan athlete who win gold medal in an international game.

For appreciation, Uganda President Yoweri Museveni gifted him Mitsubishi truck.

Highlights

• Gold Medalist in the 5,000 metres at 2020 Summer Olympics
• Silver Medalist in the 10,000 metres at 2020 Summer Olympics
• Gold Medalist in the 10,000 metres at 2019 World Championships in Doha
• Silver Medalist in the 10,000 metres at 2017 World Championships in London
• 4 Times Olympics Game Finalist
• 4 World Records in Career
• 3 Times World Championships Finalist
• 2 Current African Record Holder – 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres
• Gold Medalist in the 5,000 metres at Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast
• Gold Medalist in the 10,000 metres at Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast

Joshua Chepetegi’s Charity & Foundations

Cheptegei and his wife’s goal was to provide education as well as sports opportunity to the financial weak youth of their village.

Keeping in mind, they developed Joshua Cheptegei Development Foundation in 2016. The purpose of this foundation was to support children of Uganda and transform the community through sports.

Till today, Cheptegei’s foundation has arranged many football tournaments, distance-running, annual education events for girls and their sanitation.

Moreover, the foundation is also offering scholarship to Uganda’s weak background students. To avail scholarship, they conduct a competition and select three students.

No only that, the foundation is also working on girls pregnancy, genital mutations, and they distributes sanitary pads to girls every month.

Training Motivation of Joshua Cheptegei

Net Worth Insight of Joshua Cheptegei

As of November 2022, Joshua Cheptegei’s net worth is estimated to be $4 million. The main source of his income is from distance running and endorsements. He has also signed contracts with Nike and Adidas by competition and training kits.

According to the agreement, if he wins gold medal, $100,000 will be given. No doubt, he is the best distance runner in Uganda who has set 2 world records and is preparing himself for Oregon 2022.

Cheptegei net worth in different currencies:

Joshua Cheptegei Social Media Profiles

FAQs About Joshua Cheptegei

Q: Is Joshua Cheptegei the fastest runner in Uganda?

A: Yes, Cheptegei is the fastest long-distance runner in Uganda. He is 2 times African world record holder and won many gold and silver medal.

Q: How many money did Cheptegei win?

A: Cheptegei has won gold medal at 5,000 metres. He was followed by another runner Mohammad Ahmed of Canada but he got silver medal.

Q: What is the fastest 5k ever ran?

A: The current world record holder of 5,000 metres men’s category is Joshua Cheptegei with time of 12:35:36. He set this record on 14 August 2020 at Stade Louis II in Monaco.

Q: Is Joshua Cheptegei a Kenyan?

A: No, he is not Kenyan but he is from Uganda. He and his siblings grew up in Kapchorwa Eastern part of Uganda.

Q: How much does Uganda pay for a gold medal?

A: Museveni Uganda politician gives monthly salary of 5 million shillings ($1,400 USD) to gold medalist, 3 million shillings ($850 USD) to silver medalist, and 1 million shillings ($285 USD) to bronze medalist.