Ugandan sprinter Tarsis Orogot has won gold after shattering his own national record in the men’s 200m race.
Orogot secured glory for Uganda after powering to a 19.75 national record at the SEC Champs in Gainesville, a city in Florida in the USA.
“Tarsis Orogot, fuelled by the roaring crowd at the SEC Championships in Gainesville, exploded off the blocks,” stated the Uganda Athletics Federation (UAF).
It added: “Crossing the finish line, he shattered his own national record, stopping the clock at a jaw-dropping 19.75 seconds in the men’s 200m, etching his name in history.”
Orogot obliterated his own Ugandan 200m record and moved up to fifth position on the African all-time list.
He defeated Bahamas’ Wanya McCoy (19.94s) and Makanakaishe Charamba (20.00s) who came second and third respectively.
The Southeastern Conference (SEC) sponsors nine men’s sports and twelve women’s sports.
Factfile:
Tarsis Gracious Orogot (born 24 November 2002) gained his first experience at international championships in 2021 when he finished fourth in the 200-meter dash at the U20 World Championships in Nairobi in 20.57 s and set a Ugandan national record in the semifinals with 20.37 s.
He also reached the semifinals in the 100m, where he was eliminated with a time of 10.37s. He represented Uganda at the 2022 World Athletics Championships.
In 2023, running for the University of Alabama, he ran 20.20 for 200m indoors to set a world-leading mark in Albuquerque. This mark is a Ugandan record.
Personal bests
100 m: 10.35s (+1.4 m/s), 1 July 2021 in Nairobi (Ugandan record)
200 m: 19.90s (+0.6 m/s), 13 April 2024 in Tom Jones Invitational (Ugandan record).