Ugandan long distance runner Joshua Cheptegei has been nominated as sportsman of the year in the Laureus World Sports Awards.

Cheptegei who broke two records in 2020 is nominated alongside Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton, Polish Football Goal Machine Robert Lewandowski, Spanish Tennis star Raphael Nadal, American basketball star Lebron James, and Swedish Pole Vaulter Armand Duplantis.

Last week, Cheptegei defended his title of 5,000 meters run in Monaco, France. He had previously broken Kenenisa Bekele’s record that had stood for 16 years.

The Laureus World Sports Award for Sportsman of the Year is an annual award honouring the achievements of individual men from the world of sports and teams from the world of sports along with sporting achievements throughout the year.

In 2020, Joshua Cheptegei at a 5km road race in Monaco set a new world road of 12:51, breaking through the event’s 13-minute barrier, taking 9 seconds from the previous best time of 13:00 set by Kenya’s Sammy Kipketer in 2000.

In August at the Monaco Diamond League, he set a new 5000 metres world record of 12:35.36, breaking Kenenisa Bekele’s 16-year-old world record of 12:37.35 set in Hengelo.

In October in Valencia, he set a world record time of 26:11.00 in the 10,000 meters which again improved on Kenenisa Bekele’s 15-year-old record by more than 6 seconds