• Latest
Coach Who Discovered Jacob Kiplimo Recalls Early Signs of Greatness

Coach Who Discovered Jacob Kiplimo Recalls Early Signs of Greatness

2 months ago
Stadium Concerns Persist as Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania Gear Up for CHAN

Stadium Concerns Persist as Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania Gear Up for CHAN

2 hours ago
Sabalenka Ends Swiatek’s Reign, Faces Gauff in French Open Final

Sabalenka Ends Swiatek’s Reign, Faces Gauff in French Open Final

2 hours ago
Mbabazi, Aweko Shine as Uganda Edges Zimbabwe in Nail-Biting Finish

Mbabazi, Aweko Shine as Uganda Edges Zimbabwe in Nail-Biting Finish

2 hours ago
Boxing Great Vasiliy Lomachenko Retires at 37

Boxing Great Vasiliy Lomachenko Retires at 37

3 hours ago
KCCA Board Chairman Pledges Major Rebuild After Trophyless Season

KCCA Board Chairman Pledges Major Rebuild After Trophyless Season

5 hours ago
CAF, TECNO Seal Major AFCON Sponsorship Deal

CAF, TECNO Seal Major AFCON Sponsorship Deal

5 hours ago
Builder of Institutions and Mentors: Mamelodi’s Quiet Revolution in Ugandan Football

Builder of Institutions and Mentors: Mamelodi’s Quiet Revolution in Ugandan Football

5 hours ago
Referee Bobby Madley: VAR “Hates” the Emotion Out of Football

Referee Bobby Madley: VAR “Hates” the Emotion Out of Football

6 hours ago
Vipers Win 2024/25 Uganda Cup, Complete Historic Domestic Double

FUFA President Congratulates Vipers on League and Cup Sweep

6 hours ago
Liverpool Reject Barcelona’s Bid for Luis Diaz

Liverpool Reject Barcelona’s Bid for Luis Diaz

6 hours ago
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Thursday, June 5, 2025
  • Home
  • Football
  • Rugby
  • Basketball
  • Athletics
  • Boxing
  • Golf
  • Netball
  • Cricket
  • Motorsport
No Result
View All Result
NBS Sport
  • Home
  • Football
  • Rugby
  • Basketball
  • Athletics
  • Boxing
  • Golf
  • Netball
  • Cricket
  • Motorsport
No Result
View All Result
NBS Sport
No Result
View All Result
Home Athletics

Coach Who Discovered Jacob Kiplimo Recalls Early Signs of Greatness

Musinguzi Bernard by Musinguzi Bernard
April 4, 2025
in Athletics
0 0
0
Coach Who Discovered Jacob Kiplimo Recalls Early Signs of Greatness

As Jacob Kiplimo prepares to make his much-anticipated marathon debut at the London Marathon on April 27, one of his earliest mentors, Italian coach Giuseppe Giambrone, has reflected on the prodigious talent that first convinced him the Ugandan could one day challenge the two-hour barrier in the marathon.

“For Jacob, it’s normal,” said Giambrone in an interview with Athletics Weekly, recalling Kiplimo’s stunning world half marathon record run in Barcelona earlier this year.

RelatedPosts

Over 1,000 Trees to Be Planted Ahead of Akii Bua Memorial Meet

Cheptegei, Kiplimo to Lead Uganda Athletics Centenary Celebrations at Namboole

Virunga Marathon Attracts Over 1000 Runners, Champions Conservation and Tourism in Kisoro

But for the coach, who first discovered Kiplimo in Uganda in 2015, the brilliance on display today was evident nearly a decade ago.

Giambrone found Kiplimo in the high-altitude region of Kween, near Mount Elgon, where he had been scouting for talent beyond the traditional powerhouses of Kenya and Ethiopia.

Kiplimo was just 14 at the time and the youngest of four brothers introduced to Giambrone. While the others, including Victor Kiplangat and Robert Chemonges, had already made names for themselves in mountain running, it was the quiet and unassuming Kiplimo who quickly began to stand out.

In 2016, Giambrone brought Kiplimo and his brothers to his training base in San Rocco a Pilli, just outside Siena, Italy.

There, in the Tuscan hills, Kiplimo’s progression stunned the Italian coach. Just months into the program, the then 15-year-old was matching and exceeding the efforts of older and more experienced athletes during progressive runs on a course featured in the Gladiator film.

One particular run in April 2016 remains etched in Giambrone’s memory. Kiplimo clocked back-to-back 3:01 kilometres on a four-percent incline to end a one-hour session — an effort that would have equated to a pace well under 2:45/km on flat terrain. When Giambrone took his lactate reading, it returned a remarkably low 1.9 mmol/l — a physiological marker suggesting Kiplimo could sustain that pace for an hour, covering over a half marathon, without lactic buildup.

“At 15, without carbon shoes, that was enough for me to believe he could one day run a sub-two-hour marathon,” Giambrone said. “I spoke with people and said, ‘In the future, 1:58, 1:59 is possible,’ but Jacob was only 15 years old.”

In the months that followed, Kiplimo finished third in the 10,000m at the World U20 Championships and, still aged 15, became Uganda’s youngest Olympian at the Rio 2016 Games. The accolades continued to pile up: world and Olympic medals, Commonwealth titles, and eventually the world half marathon record.

Though Kiplimo left Giambrone’s training camp in 2019 to return to Uganda and is now coached by Iacopo Brasi, he still refers to Giambrone as “father”. The Italian coach, who insists on working directly with his athletes to maintain training integrity, said he remains proud but is not surprised by Kiplimo’s rise.

Now 24, Kiplimo will line up in London almost exactly nine years after Giambrone first saw him in Uganda — a teenager who, even then, seemed destined to redefine the boundaries of distance running.

Tags: Jacob Kiplimo
ShareTweetSendSendShare
Next Post
Gabby Thomas Shines as Grand Slam Track Kicks Off in Jamaica

Gabby Thomas Shines as Grand Slam Track Kicks Off in Jamaica

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Connect with us

  • 87.1k Followers
  • 23.9k Followers
  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
FIFA Bans Uganda Cranes Captain’s Club

FIFA Bans Uganda Cranes Captain’s Club

November 12, 2024
AFCON 2025 Q: Why Onana Left Namboole Before The Rest Of His Teammates

AFCON 2025 Q: Why Onana Left Namboole Before The Rest Of His Teammates

September 11, 2024
Florentino Perez Singles Out Uganda in Ballon d’Or Voting Criticism

Florentino Perez Singles Out Uganda in Ballon d’Or Voting Criticism

November 24, 2024
Uganda Among 62 Nations Yet to Have a Capped Player in the English Premier League

Uganda Among 62 Nations Yet to Have a Capped Player in the English Premier League

January 29, 2025
FUFA Strips KCCA of Points, Suspends Referee Over Rule Violations

FUFA Strips KCCA of Points, Suspends Referee Over Rule Violations

3
CHAN 2024: CAF Unveils New Trophy and Logo Ahead of Draw

Groups Announced for CHAN 2024

3
Rugby Cranes’ Ivan Magomu Suspended, Stripped of Captaincy Following Disciplinary Hearing

Rugby Cranes’ Ivan Magomu Suspended, Stripped of Captaincy Following Disciplinary Hearing

2
Onduparaka FC to Host Rashid Agau Memorial Match Celebrating His Legacy and Impact

Onduparaka FC to Host Rashid Agau Memorial Match Celebrating His Legacy and Impact

2
Stadium Concerns Persist as Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania Gear Up for CHAN

Stadium Concerns Persist as Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania Gear Up for CHAN

June 5, 2025
Sabalenka Ends Swiatek’s Reign, Faces Gauff in French Open Final

Sabalenka Ends Swiatek’s Reign, Faces Gauff in French Open Final

June 5, 2025
Mbabazi, Aweko Shine as Uganda Edges Zimbabwe in Nail-Biting Finish

Mbabazi, Aweko Shine as Uganda Edges Zimbabwe in Nail-Biting Finish

June 5, 2025
Boxing Great Vasiliy Lomachenko Retires at 37

Boxing Great Vasiliy Lomachenko Retires at 37

June 5, 2025

Recommended

Stadium Concerns Persist as Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania Gear Up for CHAN

Stadium Concerns Persist as Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania Gear Up for CHAN

June 5, 2025
Sabalenka Ends Swiatek’s Reign, Faces Gauff in French Open Final

Sabalenka Ends Swiatek’s Reign, Faces Gauff in French Open Final

June 5, 2025
Mbabazi, Aweko Shine as Uganda Edges Zimbabwe in Nail-Biting Finish

Mbabazi, Aweko Shine as Uganda Edges Zimbabwe in Nail-Biting Finish

June 5, 2025
Boxing Great Vasiliy Lomachenko Retires at 37

Boxing Great Vasiliy Lomachenko Retires at 37

June 5, 2025
NBS Sport

© 2022 NBS Sport - Developed and maintained by Hillcom EA.

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

Follow Us

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Football
  • Rugby
  • Basketball
  • Athletics
  • Boxing
  • Golf
  • Netball
  • Cricket
  • Motorsport

© 2022 NBS Sport - Developed and maintained by Hillcom EA.