Ugandan media sources are reporting that Olympic 10,000m gold medallist Joshua Cheptegei and his countryman Jacob Kiplimo are withdrawing from the Olympic 5000-meter race.

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They were set to run the semifinals on Wednesday before the news broke. Cheptegei is the world record holder at 5,000m and 10,000m since 2020. Kiplimo, the half-marathon record-holder, has bested Cheptegei several times in recent years and was expected to contend in the 5,000m.

The Ugandan chef de mission Faustino Kiwa told Kawowo Sports of the news, with the reason explained by a "failure to fully recover" from the grueling 10,000-meter finals that resulted in several athletes breaking the Olympic record.

The news was also posted by @UgaAthletics2 on X at 3:45 AM EDT on Tuesday.

"BREAKING NEWS!!! We regret to inform the public that Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo have withdrawn from tomorrow’s 5,000m semi-finals due to recovery from the demanding 10,000m race. Their bodies need more time to recover. Consequently, Oscar Chelimo will represent us alone," the account posted.

Oscar Chelimo, the brother of Jacob Kiplimo, is still entered and will be Uganda's only representation in the 5000m.

The entries are yet to be posted by World Athletics, which usually posts startlists on the timetable the day before Olympic events are set to start.