Kenyan-Born Paul Chelimo Wins Bronze Medal for the US at Tokyo Olympics

Kenyan-born athlete Paul Chelimo has won a medal for the United States at the Tokyo Olympics.

Chelimo bagged the Bronze medal after finishing third in the men's 5,000m final behind Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda and  Mohammed Ahmed of Canada. Kenya's sole representative in the race Nicholas Kimeli  crossed the finish line in fourth.

Cheptegei won the Friday race in 12:58.15 ahead of Ahmed (12:58.61) while Chelimo crossed the finish line in a time of 12:59.05, just 12 milliseconds faster than fourth-place finisher Kimeli of Kenya.

Chelimo, who hails from Iten in Elgeyo-Marakwet County, moved to the US to attend Shorter College, transferring to UNC-Greensboro.

He attained US citizenship in 2014 by joining the US Army World Class Athlete Program. The 30-year-old Oregon resident has won three US national outdoor and four US national indoor titles.

Chelimo was among the five Kenyan-born athletes picked to represent the US at the Tokyo Olympics. Others are Hillary Bor, Bernard Keter, Sally Kipyegon, and Aliphine Tuliamuk.

So far, the US has scooped 97 medals, including 31 Gold, 35 Silver and 31 Bronze. The US is second in the medal standings behind China which has 36 Gold, 26 Silver and 17 Bronze.