This gala was a special two-in-one celebration, recognising outstanding athletes for 2021 and 2022, as the awards weren’t held in the previous year.
The top honours of the evening went to Cheptegei and Kiplimo, who were named the USPA Sports Personalities for the Years 2021 and 2022, respectively.
In winning the 2021 award, Cheptegei secured his third consecutive title after previous wins in 2018 and 2019.
He achieved this recognition after claiming gold and silver medals in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters events at the Tokyo Olympics.
Cheptegei clocked an impressive 12:58.15 to win gold and 27:43.63 to secure silver in the 10,000m.
In addition to his Sports Personality award for 2021, Cheptegei was named the Men’s Athlete of the Year, while Peruth Chemutai earned the honour in the Women’s category.
Jacob Kiplimo, on the other hand, earned the 2022 Sports Personality of the Year award for the first time.
In the previous year, Kiplimo claimed gold medals in both the 5,000 and 10,000-meter races at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, United Kingdom.
He achieved a remarkable time of 13:08.08 and 27:09.19 in the 5,000m and 10,000m events, respectively, to secure gold in both races.
This success followed his bronze medal win in the 10,000 meters (27:27.97) at the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, United States.
Kiplimo also secured the Men’s Athlete of the Year award for 2022, while Prisca Chesang was honoured in the Women’s category.
Meanwhile, Matovu Huzaifah captain Uganda Ludo Doves and Beth Nagadya captain She Ludo Doves were awarded by the Uganda Sports Press Association (USPA) for their spectacular performances in the year 2021 and 2022.
This was during the Nile Special USPA awards GALA held on Saturday evening at Imperial Royal Hotel in Kampala.
Nadagya Beth took the centre stage for the 2021 Ludo player of the year after spectacular perfomances in the year 2021.She helped her club Nansana Galaxy win the 2021 Africa Club Ludo Championship in Dubai and she emerged as the best female Ludo player of the tournament.
She was also unplayable in the qualifiers of the 2021 Africa Club Ludo Championship
In the same year, Nagadya was part of the Uganda Doves team that won the inaugural Africa Ludo Cup Of Nations in 2021.She was also voted the female MVP of the tournament.
Matovu Huzaifah the National team achieved his recogntion after helping the Uganda Doves win the 2022 Ludo World Cup that was held in Dubai and Nepal in November 2022.
Matovu also helped the Masaka Giants finish second in the 2022 National Ludo Super League.
Several other individuals and teams received awards, including Mary Nuba (Netball, 2021), Dinesh Nakrani (Cricket, 2021), Express FC (Football, 2021), Matovu Huzaifa ( Ludo, 2021) and many more.
The 2022 winners included; Beth Nagadya (Ludo) Phillip Wokorach (Rugby, Men), Milton Karisa (Football, Men), Tonny Drileba (Basketball, Men), Rose Akon (Basketball, Women), and Joan Nampungu (Netball), among others.
