Their beginnings are similar. Joshua Chepteguei, one of the greatest athletes in history, and Dismas Yeko were both born in Uganda. Both have an incredible talent for running. Dismas Yeko may have discovered his gift at an early age, in high school. It was there, amidst books and participation in inter-school athletics, that it became clear that Yeko was born to run. "After high school, I did some training on my own before enrolling at Ndejje University in August 2019," he told FISU.net. "This made me to train even harder to get a scholarship. My parents really couldn't afford the fees for my studies." And it is those efforts that have now made him one of the most promising track and field athletes in Uganda.

Yeko studied forestry and environmental management, while Chepteguei studied languages and literature at Bugema University. Both have had unusual journeys to their spectacular development. In Yeko's case, he had to juggle his life and find a balance between training and studying.

 "I had to train from 6 a.m. to around 7:40 a.m., then prepare for my classes before starting my evening training around 4 p.m. The worst thing was when it rained in the morning. But I knew I had to continue making these sacrifices for my future because it was the only way I could get a scholarship to pay for my studies as I come from a poor family," he told the official FISU website. That's how he got the chance to compete at the FISU World University Games in Chengdu, China. And his performance was impressive. He won the men's 10,000m final in a time of 28:59.25. It was his country's only gold medal of the summer.

"This has been the highlight of my career so far," he said. "I was really confident going into the race. I knew I had done enough preparation. Standing on the podium gave me immense joy. I knew I was representing my university and my country". It was Uganda's only gold medal and the country has an impressive track and field history at the FISU Games: 14 medals.

His role model can only be Joshua Chepteguei. He has a very similar background after winning the cross-country at the 2014 FISU Games. He went on to break the 10,000m world record and top the Olympic rankings. Chepteguei once held both the 5,000m and 10,000m records, taking over from Bekele. In 2020, he again broke the records for both distances, the 5,000m (12:35.36) and the 10,000m (26:11.00). At Tokyo 2020, he won gold in the 5,000m and silver in the 10,000m. 

"The Games gave me the necessary experience in tough competition abroad. It encouraged me that I can achieve and do great things in international events. Now I just have to focus on training to achieve what I want to achieve in athletics in the near future," said Fabio de Dominicis for the FISU.