Joshua Cheptegei put up a spirited last-minute run to catch up with the eventual men’s 10000m final winner, Ethiopia‘s Selemon Barega.
Barega, 21, timed his last-lap sprint to perfection to win the first athletics gold of the Games in 27min 43.22sec.
Cheptegei claimed silver in 27:43.63 with teammate Jacob Kiplimo taking bronze in 27:43.88 as Uganda registered its maiden medals at the summer games.
Another Ugandan, Stephen Kissa pulled out of the race just over 19 minutes for reasons yet to be known.