RIO DE JANEIRO.
Swimmer Joshua Ekirikubinza had been philosophical about his fate going into the 50m freestyle heats at Barra Olympic Park on Thursday night.
Having seen the reaction to Jamila Lunkuse’s tail end finish, Ekirikubinza prepared the country for his inevitable exit at the 2016 Olympics.
Yet it would be foolhardy to have expected more from the 20-year-old given that his participation in the Games was owed to a wildcard.
Ekirikubinza’s time of 25.98 50 was well outside his personal best of 25.54 and he finished sixth. The race was won by Tanzanian swimmer Hilal Hemed Hilal in a time of 23.7 with Bahrain’a Farhan Farhan coming second in 24.61.
Uganda Swimming Federation boss Don Rukare, who watched the race alongside UOC President William Blick and Chief de Mission Ambrose Tashobya, was nonetheless not dismayed by Ekirikubinza’a efforts.
“Joshua performed well,” Rukare told Saturday Monitor. “He is one of the upcoming swimmers we have. We look forward to even better performances ahead because remember this was his first Olympics.”
With Ekirikubinza (picture below) gone, the only non-athletics participant left at the Games for Team Uganda is boxer Ronald Sserugo.
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