Uganda settles for Silver and Bronze at 2025 Islamic Solidarity Games in thrilling 10,000m finish

Uganda’s impressive performance at the 6th edition of the Islamic Solidarity Games in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, continues to garner attention.

In a heart-stopping finish in the men’s 10,000m finals at the state-of-the-art Prince Faisal Bin Fahad stadium, Uganda’s Samuel Simba Cherop and Bahrain’s Birhanu Balew crossed the line with identical times of 29:06:58.

Abel Chebet secured bronze for Uganda in the same event.

The outcome of the gold and silver medals for Cherop and Balew is pending a ruling from the technical team of the games after Balew “blocked Cherop as he was overtaking him at the finishing line”.

A decision is expected soon to allow the medal presentation ceremony to proceed.

With nine medals now secured by Team Uganda, the country’s athletes are gearing up for a busy Wednesday in Riyadh.

Athletics events continue with Uganda competing in the men’s 1500m (Tom Dradriga), women’s 800m (Halim Nakaayi), men’s 400m (Hadoli), and women’s 5000m (Charity Cherop and Cherop Risper).

Wrestling also kicks off on Wednesday, featuring Veronica Ayo against Sezim Zhumanazarova and Tekouk A Djamila. Para-Power lifter Dennis Mbaziira will compete on Friday, November 21.

Uganda’s other medals at the games have come from Swimming, Table Tennis, and Boxing.

Most of the content in this article is attributed to David Isabirye, the team Uganda media officer in Riyadh