Noble set for World Rowing Cup
Racking up experiences. Noble is gearing up for the Paris Olympics. PHOTO/COURTESY
What you need to know:
Noble, Uganda’s first rower to qualify for the Olympics in 2020, made it to yet another Olympics by finishing fourth in the 2000m.
Olympian Kathleen Noble will enhance her preparations for Paris 2024 by taking part in the April 12-14 World Rowing Cup 1 in Varese, Italy.
As of Wednesday, 16 rowers from across the globe had confirmed their participation in the women’s single sculls of this prestigious event which is an annual series of three regattas that act as a lead-up to the World Rowing Championships.
Noble, Uganda’s first rower to qualify for the Olympics in 2020, made it to yet another Olympics by finishing fourth in the 2000m women’s single sculls at the Africa Championships in Tunis, Tunisia in October last year.
In the heats, she finished second (8:25.87) behind Egypt’s Ibrahim Ghada (8:21:15) to make the semifinals, where she also finished second to make it to the finals. The Egyptian is one of the very top competitors that Noble will again face in Italy.
Noble, told Irish newspaper Fermanagh Herald that she hoped her Tokyo 2020 participation, where she finished as second best ranked African competitor, would have inspired more Ugandans to take up the sport but things have not gone according to her desires.
However, hope springs ahead of Paris because she has also been involved in advocacy work for the sport since she returned from Tokyo in August 2021.
The Tennessee-based athlete, who also revealed to the Irish outlet that she takes after her father Gerry in the sport, continues to be Ugandan rowing’s lightning rod. In fact she had to come out of retirement after Tokyo to make it to Paris.
