By now, many of us would have heard or even been involved in the saga about Joseph Schooling and the gold medal that many presumed he would have secured for the nation. The real question is, “are we being reasonable as citizens and supporters to our fellow athletes that had put in so much time and effort in the preparation for the Olympics?”.
There are many reasons and possibilities on why he didn’t secure the gold medal in this year’s Tokyo Olympics. One of the many possibilities could be because of what his father is going through and how he couldn’t be home to be there for him. Colin Schooling, father of the Olympian was diagnosed with cancer and sources mention that it has been informed to the general public as early as mid-June 2021.
Although Joseph may have claimed that his father’s cancer had no bearing on him, we cannot conclude someone’s feeling on his words itself. With COVID-19 in the midst of everything, we can only imagine how tough it would be for him to have so much going on at once. Remember there was a period where all swimming pools were closed? This could also be another possible reason that there wasn’t a consistency in his training. I believe we will never know the true reason why the Olympian didn’t clinch the gold medal this Olympics.
Right after his 100m men’s butterfly heats, the nation was filled with mixed emotions. Some stayed positive in encouraging him on, and were glad for his efforts, while others were slamming him down with negative comments. I personally felt empathetic for him because I know how tough it can be to compete in an elite level such as the Olympics, and the weight on his shoulders for the gold medal was just gonna add on to that pressure.
Let’s touch on the other side of the picture where many were taking to social media to vent their frustrations about Schooling not bringing back the gold. Let’s take a look at the results that he secured in the past few years:
- Rio Olympics 2016, Gold
- Asian Games 2018, Gold
- FINA World Championships 2019, 24th out of 77 swimmers
- SEA Games 2019, Gold
It could be that because of how Joseph has performed in previous competitions that led to this controversy of why some people felt this way. Some were even posting hurtful comments about the situation, and it really showed the other side of humanity when there’s so much expectations on the line for an individual with status. It came to a point where the President herself had to speak up about the issue.
There’s no doubt that he has performed well in previous competitions, but we should also be mindful that what goes up, will eventually have to come down. Quoting Mahatma Gandhi, “Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment. Full effort is full victory.” Hence, let’s always support our athletes no matter what the outcome might be! Go Team Singapore!
This article was brought to you by Dwayne. A fun and energetic individual who loves music, food and adventure!
