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President Halimah, govt leaders speak up against ‘negative, hurtful’ comments on Joseph Schooling’s Olympics performance

SINGAPORE — Government leaders and President Halimah Yacob have spoken up against hurtful comments made in the wake of national swimmer Joseph Schooling’s exit from the Olympic Games in Tokyo on Thursday evening (July 29).

Joseph Schooling embracing his swim coach, Sergio Lopez Miro, during the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Joseph Schooling embracing his swim coach, Sergio Lopez Miro, during the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

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  • Defending champion Joseph Schooling finished last in his 100m butterfly heats and did not progress to the semis 
  • He brought glory to our sporting history, said Mdm Halimah, and had endured tremendous stress 
  • Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong said that Singaporeans cannot be "fairweather" fans 
  • Athletes must be supported "not only when they are up, but especially when they are down", he said. 

 

SINGAPORE — Government leaders and President Halimah Yacob have spoken up against hurtful comments made in the wake of national swimmer Joseph Schooling’s exit from the Olympic Games in Tokyo on Thursday evening (July 29). 

Schooling, who is the reigning 100m butterfly Olympic champion, clocked 53.12s on Thursday to come in last in his heats, placing 44th out of a field of 55 and losing out on a spot in the semi-finals. 

Among those who expressed their disappointment at the negative comments targeted at the 26-year-old was President Halimah who said she felt sad looking at “how unkind we can be towards each other”.

“One moment, we carry people to the highest pedestal with our words, yet the next moment we thrash them to the ground just because they fail to live up to our expectations,” she wrote in a Facebook post on Friday.

“We forgot that he had helped us to win an Olympic gold medal and brought glory to our own sports history.” 

A check of TODAY’s Facebook comments showed that while most had posted words of encouragement, there were some chiding him for the performance and his physique.

Mdm Halimah likened the online vitriol that Schooling has been receiving to the abuse English players Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho, who missed their penalties, got when England lost to Italy in the Uefa Euro 2020 final earlier this month. 

She also mentioned Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka, who was abused online after her shock defeat to Markéta Vondroušová from the Czech Republic in the third round of the Olympic Games. 

Mdm Halimah added that athletes go through “tremendous sacrifices and stress” and this has to be appreciated. 

“And the Olympics is not a walk in the park,” she added. “They are competing against some of the world’s best athletes but they still tried their best... The least that we can do is to appreciate their effort and continue to encourage and support them.”

ATHLETES ARE MORTALS LIKE ALL OF US: TAN CHUAN JIN 

President of the Singapore National Olympic Council Tan Chuan-Jin took to Facebook on Thursday night to offer words of encouragement for both Schooling and Quah Zheng Wen, who also took part in the 100m butterfly heats.

Quah, who swam a time of 52.39, finished 34th in the field and also did not qualify for the semis. 

“I know that for many, this will be disappointing,” said Mr Tan, who is also Speaker of Parliament. 

“Trust me, the disappointment is felt most by our athletes who expect more of themselves every day and work at trying to improve all the time.” 

He added that the majority of the athletes competing at the Olympic Games will not stand on the podium, and that their struggles “remind us to keep going and continue to find the best version of ourselves”. 

In a separate Facebook post on Friday, Mr Tan said that athletes “are mortals like all of us” and that “with a few quick clicks”, callous words can lacerate or encouragement can uplift them.  

Agreeing, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong said in a Facebook post on Thursday that Singaporeans “cannot be fairweather about this, enjoying the glory when they do well, but criticising our athletes when they don’t”. 

“Remember how it was on 12 August 2016?  How Jo lifted all of us with his phenomenal win?  Most of us will remember the day, where exactly we were and what we were doing — so momentous was the occasion, and how proud we were as a nation,” he said. 

“We must continue to support and cheer them on, get behind them, not only when they are up, but especially when they are down.” 

Senior Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry for Transport Baey Yam Keng said in an Instagram post on Friday that “the whole nation was in jubilation” when Schooling won the Olympic gold in 2016. 

“It was the wildest dream we never thought possible,” he said. “He gave us reasons to be proud as Singaporeans.” 

“Now, let us give Joseph a reason to be proud as one of us.”

SCHOOLING THANKS FANS FOR SUPPORT 

In an Instagram story on Friday morning, Schooling thanked fans for their support. 

“Thanks for all the wishes and support — it means the world to me,” he posted. “I’ll take some time to process everything and get back to you as soon as I can.” 

Schooling’s swim coach Sergio Lopez Miro also shared an image on the social media platform of him warmly embracing the national swimmer. 

“Over 10 years ago, we crossed paths in this beautiful life for something more than just being perfect,” said Lopez in the post. 

“Never forget that perfection lies in the imperfection of life... Thank you for this amazing and interesting journey,” he said. “Let's keep moving forward.” 

In his post-race interview on Thursday, Schooling said that while it had been a “very disappointing performance”, he would not end his career on this bitter note. 

"There's always another one, I'm just not going to end it like that," he said.

Related topics

Olympics 2021 Joseph Schooling Halimah Yacob

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