Social media love covers up for empty Tokyo stands

Celebrated. Cheptegei (left), Kiplimo (back) and Noble (inset) received the support of social media. PHOTOS/AFP

What you need to know:

  • There were no people in the stands to share the huge moment with, owing to the need to curb the spread of the Covid-19 variants.

Looking back to the 10000m final on Friday, Ugandan medalists Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo almost immediately get engrossed in a discussion of their efforts as soon as they cross the finish line.
They keep to themselves for over two minutes before a member of Team Uganda in the stands beckoned them to pick the flag for a ‘victory lap.’ Meanwhile, the winner, Ethiopia’s Selemon Barega had tried to go on the circuit before realising there was no point.
There were no people in the stands to share the huge moment with, owing to the need to curb the spread of the Covid-19 variants.

But perhaps after going through his social media feed and realising the positivity from home despite the disappointment of not seeing that hugely anticipated gold, the silver medalist Cheptegei tweeted thanking “everyone for supporting me all the way.”
By press time, the tweet had attracted over 6,900 likes and 1,200 retweets. The people tweeting about him were certainly more.

Their teammate Stephen Kissa, who had sacrificed his own ambitions to play team in the hope of upping the tempo to tire out the Kenyans and Ethiopians, was also the subject of very endearing emotions.
Many Ugandans seemed to understand Kissa’s mission and largely poured out the love. This, for example, is a far ‘cry’ from the demeaning memes that greeted Cheptegei when he went from leading to finishing 30th in the World Cross Country Championships at Kololo in 2017.

Making an impact
Kathleen Grace Noble, who finished 26th out of 32 female single scullers on her trip as Uganda’s first ever rower at the Olympics, was left in awe of the home support.
She almost became an instant social media sensation when photos of her arriving in Tokyo days to her race hit pages of some media houses and sports journalists.
A congratulatory message, after one of her first races in the regatta, from first son Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba caused an even deeper debate when Uganda Rowing Federation (URF) technical director Rodrick Muhumuza, who convinced Noble to row for Uganda, replied to it with pictures of boats donated to the body held at a customs bond over taxes.

The discussion was even more fruitful in Tokyo, where Muhumuza pushed for a meeting between the rowing federation, Fisa, and the Sports minister Hamson Obua, who promised to look into the matter when the teams return. Obua also had social media enthusiasts give him an “earful” when he tweeted a photo from the meeting.
“I’m so grateful for the support. I’ve received a lot of support, so much more than I expected, so many people picking interest in rowing in Uganda and I cannot wait to see where this goes,” Noble said in a video recorded by her coach Ahsan Iqbal.

The two shared their experiences through the administrator of the Uganda Rowing Community Facebook page – one that grew its following from a few hundreds pre-Olympics to over 800 likes in the wake of Noble’s exploits at Sea Forest Waterway.
“It was an unforgettable experience and Kathleen is such a great person to coach,” Iqbal, who has trained the Ugandan, shared.
“She is like a daughter and to have her peak on the last race of the Olympics is perfect. It is still unbelievable how many supporters are following her. I have not seen something like that before and it shows our efforts paid off after all those months practicing by ourselves,” he added.

There have also been criticism – especially for the boxers after all of the three representatives were eliminated in their first bouts.
But those were also highly matched with positive messages for the swimmers Atuhaire Ambala and Kirabo Namutebi with the latter posting “thank you all for the overwhelming support,” on her Instagram after the reactions to her new 26.63 national record in the 50m women’s freestyle.

Hushed criticism
Runners like Albert Chemutai, Prisca Chesang, Stella Chelangat and Esther Chebet had almost muted reactions to their performances perhaps because the country was waiting on Cheptegei and Kiplimo.
Halimah Nakaayi and Winnie Nanyondo also enjoyed some love after the 800m heats.

In a clear show of the ‘if it is not nice, do not say it’s attitude, Ugandans have largely made the criticism in hushed tones.
Where some have bucked the trend, they have been met with explanations or reasons of why it could have been challenging for the athletes to return better fortunes.
The stands might have been empty but social media ensured that the athletes felt the love.

Classic reactions

Ugandans went like: Noble’s “boats at URA” to this being her “first show” and “we should celebrate that she chose Uganda out of all countries she could have represented” to Namutebi “is young and has a bright future ahead of her” and renown journalist Robert Madoi’s: “Reminder that Uganda’s athletes had no tartan track to train on. The only facility with a tartan track (Mandela National Stadium) was turned into a Covid rehabilitation centre.”