Oscar Chelimo

Oscar Chelimo (born 12 December 2001)^[1] is a Ugandan long-distance runner. He won the bronze medal for the 5000 metres at the 2022 World Athletics Championships.

Oscar Chelimo

Personal information
Nationality	Ugandan
Born	(2001-12-12) 12 December 2001 (age 23)
Sport
Country	Uganda
Sport	Athletics
Event	Long-distance running
Medal record Men's athletics Representing  Uganda World Championships 2022 Eugene 5000 m Youth Olympic Games 2018 Buenos Aires 3000 m African Youth Games 2018 Algiers 3000 m World Cross Country Championships 2019 Aarhus U20 team 2019 Aarhus U20 race

His older brother, Jacob Kiplimo is also an elite long-distance runner.^[2]

Career

In 2018, Oscar Chelimo finished in seventh place in the men's 5000 metres event at the World U20 Championships held in Tampere, Finland.^[3] He also competed in the boys' 3000 metres at the Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, Argentina and won the bronze medal.^[1]

He represented Uganda at the 2019 African Games held in Rabat, Morocco, running in the men's 5000 m event to finish in fifth place.^[1] That same year, he also competed in the men's 5000 m event at the 2019 World Athletics Championships held in Doha, Qatar, though he did not qualify to compete in the final.^[1]

In 2020, he won the men's 5 kilometres road race at the BOclassic held in Bolzano, Italy.

On 12 May 2021, Chelimo raced the 5000 m in Bergamo, Italy, finishing third in 13:06.79, an Olympic qualifying time. Next he raced at the 60th Ostrava Golden Spike in the 3000 m, where he placed third in 7:43.00. He finished 16th in the 5000 m at the postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympics in August.^[1]

Chelimo won the bronze medal for the 5000 m at the 2022 World Athletics Championships held in Eugene, Oregon in July, and took his second victory at the BOclassic on the New Year's Eve that year (10 km).^[1][4]

In April 2023 Chelimo signed a contract with On Running.^[5]

Achievements

International competitions

Representing  Uganda

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Result
2017	World U18 Championships	Nairobi, Kenya	5th	3000 m	8:17.57
2018	World U20 Championships	Tampere, Finland	7th	5000 m	14:00.68
	African Youth Games	Algiers, Algeria	2nd	3000 m	8:00.72
	Youth Olympic Games	Buenos Aires, Argentina	3rd	3000 m	4 pts
2019	World Cross Country Championships	Aarhus, Denmark	3rd	U20 race	23:55
			2nd	U20 team	32 pts
	African U20 Championships	Abidjan, Ivory Coast	6th	5000 m	13:54.88
	African Games	Rabat, Morocco	5th	5000 m	13:32.96
	World Championships	Doha, Qatar	28th (h)	5000 m	13:42.94
2021	Olympic Games	Tokyo, Japan	16th	5000 m	13:44.45
2022	World Championships	Eugene, United States	3rd	5000 m	13:10.20
2023	World Championships	Budapest, Hungary	5th (h)	5000 m	13:33.401
2024	Olympic Games	Paris, France	20th	5000 m	13:31.56

¹Did not finish in the final

Personal bests

• 1500 metres – 3:47.48 (Milan 2019)
• 3000 metres – 7:33.93 (Budapest 2025)
• 5000 metres – 13:00.42 (Brussels 2022)

Road

• 5 kilometres – 13:17 (Bolzano 2020)
• 10 kilometres – 28:06 (Arezzo 2021)