Joshua Cheptegei, Peruth Chemutai and Jacob Kiplimo defied several odds to help Uganda get its two golds, silver and bronze, which turns out to be the biggest medal haul in Uganda’s Olympic history. I expect these heroes to be celebrated for some years but I wouldn’t be surprised if they fade into oblivion when they wear out or after retirement.

There is something weird about Ugandans. We tend to celebrate victory of an individual, even when we know there is little the country did for their success. Then when they don’t meet the expectations, people tend to see them as failures.

For one, I noted how several companies rushed to celebrate every medal on social media yet none of them ever sent out a prior message of support or encouragement to the athletes.

I have made it a habit of recent to caution football stars that they are as good as their form, not how they will be remembered.

In fact, several people reached out to me to understand the fate of Ugandan stars who won Olympic medals in the past. A quick glimpse into the short list doesn’t paint a stellar picture.

For instance, Eridad Mukwanga won Uganda’s first-ever medal, silver, at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. The bantamweight boxer, who lost to USSR’s Valerian Sokolov in the final, used to feature for Kilembe Boxing Club.

He retired a few years after the games and was quickly forgotten. He went on to sell his few assets and lived in a poor state. In 1996, he cried out to the public for help to get surgery for a nagging hernia. It took Nile Breweries boss Ronnie Madhvani to come to Mukwanga’s rescue. He died on January 7, 1998.

Meanwhile, Leo Rwabwogo, the only Ugandan to win an Olympic medal in two different Games, was Mukwanga’s teammate in Mexico City where he won bronze. He went on to make history by upgrading to silver at the 1972 Munich Olympics. The light fly boxer was also a member of the Kilembe Boxing Club.

He retired from boxing to become team manager of Kilembe FC but when the club was relegated to the second tier league before closing shop a few years later, Rwabwogo also disappeared on the scene. He only reappeared in dire financial state until his death on January 14, 2009.

Then there is John Akii-Bua.

To many people, he is regarded as Uganda’s greatest athlete because of the several odds he faced against world-class athletes in terms of training facilities, kits and the fact the 400m hurdler remains the only Ugandan to hold the world and Olympic record at the same time.

It is also widely believed he would have won gold had Uganda not boycotted the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, Canada.

Akii-Bua fled to exile in 1979 due to insecurity in the country. At one point, he even stayed in a refugee camp in Kenya. Upon return to the country, he was offered to coach the national athletics team but never came close to living a life of a national treasure. He died on June 20, 1997 but even the house on Plot 182 Tufnell drive that President Amin gave him was reportedly sold.

When it comes to John ‘The Beast’ Mugabi, the 1980 Olympic Games silver medallist joined the paid ranks and went on to become a world champion.

He stayed in diaspora for decades and briefly returned home in March 2015. He is based in Australia.

As for Davis Kamoga, the 400m bronze medallist from the 1996 games in Atlanta, USA, slipped into oblivion thereafter. The last time I heard about him was in April, 2018 when he met President Museveni for recognition as a national hero.

Today, he can stroll through the city without anyone recognizing him. Lastly, 2012 Olympic marathon champion Stephen Kiprotich failed in his bid for another medal in Tokyo.

bzziwa@observer.ug

 

The author is The Observer

operations director