Cheptegei and Nasser are the Real Stars of 2021.

After their performances on the world stage in 2021, Golden Boy Joshua Cheptegei and rally ace Yassin Nasser were named the most remarkable sportsmen of the year by the Fortebet Real Star Awards.

Every month, the Real Star Awards honor great athletes, but this year, the organizers decided to take it a step further by honoring the top performers as the year draws to a close.

The Real Super Star award was created for the highest-achieving athlete, and the Real Star award was created for the runner-up, with the winners selected by the amount of monthly awards they had earned over the year.

Cheptegei’s victory as the Real Super Star for 2021 came following a year in which the 25-year-old earned Olympic gold in the 5,000m and silver in the 10,000m in Tokyo.

Nasser, who placed second, was recognized for a good year in which he finished second in the African Rally Championship (ARC) and also won the ARC 2 category, making him the first Ugandan to win an African rally round in 24 years with his ARC category victory in South Africa.

“As a crew, we were able to take on numerous activities and collect amazing points with varying degrees of success,” Nasser remarked at the event in Kampala on Tuesday afternoon.

“We went into the adventure blindly, and we’re grateful for the results we’ve had so far.”

“We also won the ARC 2 category this season, and we finished second in ARC and we won the ARC category in South Africa, and we couldn’t be more proud,” he continued.

After a stellar 30-year career as a sports broadcaster and pundit, Kenneth Micheal Alerenge was honored with the lifetime achievement award.

Radio Uganda (now Uganda Broadcasting Services), CBS Radio, and Kampala African Radio were among Alerenge’s clients. Then WBS TV, followed by ten years at Channel Africa, a division of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).

The evening also served as the presentation of the Fortebet Real Stars Awards for the month of December.

After her exploits with the Uganda U20 national team, Uganda U20 forward Hadijah Nandago earned the Real Star footballer of the month award for December.

Nandago’s goal for the U20s versus South Africa in the first leg in Kitende was enough to advance the team to the third round of the FIFA U20 Women World Cup qualifiers.

“I’d want to express my gratitude to my coaches for their efforts and for assisting me in my professional development.”

During her acceptance speech, she expressed her gratitude to her teammates, saying, “This also goes out to my teammates who have pushed me and helped me out there in every game.”

George Apollo of the Nemo Stars was voted the best volleyball player in November, while Sarah Chelangat of the Cricket Cranes got the Athletics award and Simon Ssesazi of the Cricket Cranes received the Cricket award.