MTN Rallies Support for Joshua Cheptegei as he attempts another World Record.

03 October 2020
  • On 13th August 2020, at the Diamond League Meet in Monaco, Ugandan athlete Joshua Kiprui Cheptegei broke the 16-year 5000 metres World Record of 12.37.35 set by Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele, setting a new record of 12.35.36.
  • On 7th October 2020, Cheptegei will yet again attempt to re-write history, by attempting to break the 15year-old 10,000 metres record of 26:17.53 set by the same athlete, Bekele.
  • MTN Uganda is mobilizing Ugandans to rally support for Cheptegei as he endeavors to raise the country’s flag high on the international stage.

Saturday 3rd October 2020, Kampala-Uganda: MTN Uganda is throwing its weight behind the country’s celebrated athlete, Joshua Cheptegei as he attempts to break yet another record set by Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele in the men’s 10,000 metre race. The telecom giant is harnessing its reach and voice to mobilize Ugandans to rally behind their own as he strives to bring yet another prestigious title back home, at the NN Valencia World Record Day on October 7th, 2020.

In August this year, Uganda’s Cheptegei broke Bekele’s 15year old record in the men’s 5,000 metres race by a whopping 2 seconds when he posted a race time of 12:35.36 as faster than Bekele’s 12:37.35.

To celebrate this personal and national milestone, MTN Uganda rewarded the athlete with UGX. 123,536,000 and 12GB of data, 35 Voice minutes and 36 SMS every month for twelve months, all symbolic of the new world record time. In addition to that accomplishment, Cheptegei will again hit the Turia stadium tracks in Valencia to challenge Bekele’s sixteen-year-old 26:17.53 record time.

Bekele’s 10,000m world record is one of the toughest in the books as it is the longest standing men’s 10,000m world record in history. As such Joshua’s attempt to break this world record is not only a win for Joshua and Uganda but will confirm Cheptegei’s place among the world’s greatest athletes of all time.

Speaking about MTN’s involvement with the athlete, Somdev Sen, MTN Uganda’s Chief Marketing Officer said, “Considering how important this record will be for Uganda’s image and the athletics fraternity, we are rallying support for Cheptegei as he challenges this tough record. He has given us reason to believe in him and we owe him our support as he proudly flies our flag.”

To inspire him and rally support across the country, MTN Uganda is running an online campaign leading up to 7th Oct to drive awareness and encourage Cheptegei as he after Bekele’s long-standing record.

Customers will be prompted to post their prediction of Joshua’s finish time in his attempt to beat the 10,000 metre world record. The predictions will be posted to the MTN Social Media pages using hashtags #GoodTogether, #NNValenciaWRDay and the first customer to post the closest finish time will win the equivalent to the time run by Cheptegei from MTN Uganda. For instance, if Cheptegei posts a running time of 26:17.00, the customer will win UGX. 261,700 or data worth the same amount of money.

MTN has sponsored athletics in Uganda for the last 16 years through support to programs of the Uganda Athletics Federation (UAF). It is from this partnership, that the Federation is steadily growing Uganda’s reputation as a track and field athletics powerhouse in the region and continent.

“MTN has been a part of grass root development of athletics in Uganda and salutes all the big strides the sport is achieving. We pledge to continue supporting the sport in whatever way we can,” Sen said.

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About MTN Uganda

Launched in 1998, MTN Uganda is the leading communications operator in Uganda, offering Mobile and Fixed telecommunications, Mobile Money Services and Internet Service Provisioning. As at 31st December 2018, MTN Uganda recorded 11.2 million subscribers across Uganda. Visit us at www.mtn.co.ug or follow us on www.youtube.com/mtnug and  www.twitter.com/mtnug or www.twitter.com/mtnugpro for assistance.

About the MTN Group

Launched in 1994, the MTN Group is a leading emerging market operator with a clear vision to lead the delivery of a bold new digital world to our 240 million customers in 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East. We are inspired by our belief that everyone deserves the benefits of a modern connected life. The MTN Group is listed on the JSE Securities Exchange in South Africa under the share code “MTN”. We are pursuing our BRIGHT strategy with a major focus on growth in data, fintech and digital businesses.

For more information, please contact:

Rhona Arinaitwe at rhona.arinaitwe@mtn.com or 077 2123067 or Emmy Olaki at emmy.olaki@tbwa-uganda.com or 078 260 5997

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