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TOKYO – Salt Lake City rower Kathleen Noble competed in her first-ever Olympic race before the official lighting of the Olympic Cauldron early Friday morning.
Noble has lived in Utah for the past few years, training in the Great Salt Lake as well as the Jordan River Surplus Canal, but she's from Uganda.
"And I've just felt a lot calmer today than I expected," Noble told the KSL crew in Tokyo after she competed in her event Thursday, realizing she has officially competed as an Olympian. "I know! I am. Like, I just had to get through that one race and I get to say that forever. Haha."
Noble finished fifth out of six rowers in the second heat of the women's single skulls rowing at the Sea Forest Waterway venue in Tokyo.
Just met with Kathleen Noble at the rowing venue in Tokyo. She starts in one hour. Noble lives in Salt Lake City but represents Uganda. She is the first Ugandan rower in Olympic history. Our story with her runs in about 20 minutes on @KSL5TV. @kslsportspic.twitter.com/iE1Kn29wC0
— Alex Cabrero (@KSL_AlexCabrero) July 22, 2021
The top three automatically advance to the quarter-finals. However, Noble has another chance to advance if she does well enough in an upcoming heat.
She said she appreciates all the support back home in Utah and Uganda.
"I'm just grateful for all the messages. I had so many messages. I haven't replied to most of them, but I have read them," Noble said. "It's been very encouraging to have all of that support from all over the world, really."
She has a great attitude about her experience in Tokyo and she's the first rower in Ugandan history to compete in the Olympics.
No matter the results of her second heat, she's an Olympian.
