Most of the glamorous success in sport that Uganda boasts of came at a time when the biggest portion of our 35 million people were toddlers or not yet in existence. Personally, I only read about the Uganda Cranes’ second fiddle performance in Ghana back in 1978 at the Africa Nations Cup. They lost 2-0 to the hosts in the final. And since then, I only seek God’s mercy for me to see them in coming editions in South Africa.
The same goes to all our first five medals at the world’s biggest Games, the Olympics. When boxers Leo Rwabogo and Eridadi Mukwanga landed our first Olympic medals in Mexico City 1968, even some our predecessors were too young to know this. And finally when marathoner Stephen Kiprotich crossed the 42km race finish line on the final day of the XXX Olympiad, it was joy for the Pearl of Africa but most fondly, I was alive and watching.
Now Davis Kamoga loses the tag name of being the last Ugandan to have won an Olympic medal and if it were not Kiprotich’s endurance, Kamoga would have travelled to Rio de Janiero still as a the last man to pick a medal.
But while we cherish the glorious Kiprotich feat, we should really know that it never came on a silver plate. His preparations to the Games suffered numerous hiccups but his love and passion for national pride saw him through. At one moment, his senior Moses Kipsiro had to dig deep in his pockets to see him through the struggle.
Yes, he will receive a hero’s welcome but what if the Team Uganda contingent returned empty handed, would the country’s legislature even have given these athletes a chance in the august house? Those are questions we need to ponder about.
Why don’t we work towards their success other than hosting and recognizing only medal winners? These questions will tickle all stake holders, the public and mostly the government of Uganda.
It’s quite deafening that Kamoga, a bronze medalist in the 400m final at the Atlanta Summer Olympics in 1996 thinks he was never appreciated by his country. Interestingly, one should know that there are many athletes who are better than Kiprotich but need support to reach the pinnacle. Imagine if Kipsiro’s promises and other assurances from government had been met, how many more medals would have been landed by the returning contingent?
“Uganda has the potential to challenge our Kenyan and Ethiopian counterparts,” Benjamin Kiplagat, a bronze medalist in the men’s 3000m steeplechase at the Africa Senior Athletics Championships in Benin once said.
There was no shilling incurred as the three stanzas of our melodious anthem went played as the colorful national flag went up during the closing ceremony of the Games that was live across the world on Sunday. The limelight and sense of national pride that Kiprotich brought to this country can be brought by a politician, never! And if you agree with this, for sports should be priotised in this country.
When the Cranes have a game in Namboole, the frenzy in town shows how much sport can bring to this country. Henceforth, let’s have a new perspective about sport in this country. A Ugandan from the Nilotes, Hamites, and all other ethnicities supported Kiprotich to the finish line. Now that he won, this should be a real eye opener that sport should not be undermined, for the talent is there! For God and my country.