FILE PHOTO: Tokyo 2020 Olympics - Rowing - Women's Single Sculls - Semifinal E/F - Sea Forest Waterway, Tokyo, Japan - July 25, 2021. Kathleen Noble of Uganda in action REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo
PARIS (Reuters) - Many of the world's stars at the Paris Games will measure their success by medals, but rower Kathleen Noble is hoping for an Olympic legacy that is both more modest and far-reaching - that rowing will become sustainable in her native Uganda.
Born to Irish parents in Kiwoko in 1994, the swimmer-turned-rower told Reuters that Friday's women's sculls E final will be the last race of her career before she shifts her focus to starting a family and growing the sport.
"The first time I was at the Olympics (in Tokyo), the outcome of that was enthusiasm, and I'm hoping the outcome of the second time will be the creation of structures that will allow people to actually take that enthusiasm and do something with it," she said.
Already well known for her swimming exploits at the FINA World Championships, the 29-year-old recalled how she took up rowing as a student at Princeton University in the U.S.
"That's obviously one of the best facilities in the world, and then I got invited to row with the Uganda national team," she explained in the shade of a parasol at the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Centre.
"It was kind of dramatic, going from the best facilities in the world to places where we were duct-taping our boats and made to come in every 30 minutes to drain them out and go back out, but I'm so grateful for the time that I did spend back home rowing.
"I would feel quite fraudulent, to be perfectly honest, if I hadn't had that time training back home, getting to know our athletes and getting to know what it's like to grow in that environment."
IMPORTANT PART
Noble parlayed that connection and training into qualifying for the Tokyo and Paris Games, and though she knew she would have little or no chance of making the podium in either, that was never the point.
"When I come here, I'm not contending for a medal, and you kind of think, okay, what is the purpose of this, what is the meaning of this, and what am I trying to do with this? And for me, the answer has been kind of twofold," Noble says.
"One is, there are a lot of virtues that we associate with Olympians. Dedication, commitment, and all of those things can be true, even if you're not the fastest person, to try and really live in demonstrating those values as best as I can."
The most important part for Noble, however, is what will come in her wake.
"(It's) around trying to inspire athletes back home and develop rowing, and kind of shine a spotlight on that, because I think there are so many resources within the rowing world.
"A lot of people that want to see development in Africa, and so I'm hoping that we can partner with people who want to see that development happen and create a regional high-performance centre in Uganda, for both able-bodied and para athletes, that's what I find exciting."
Resources alone will not create Olympians of the future, Noble pointed out.
"It's one thing to make it to the world championships or the Olympics, it's another thing to actually develop a program that could mean you get people into the C final, the B final, you know - like, I'm not there," she said, before sounding a note of hope for Ugandan rowing.
"I don't know how me doing this translates into people back home having opportunities, but I kind of believe it does, so you just play it out, and eventually I think it will come together."
(Reporting by Philip O'Connor; Editing by Ken Ferris)
