Joseph Schooling may not have qualified for the men’s 100m butterfly semi-finals but he will always be Singapore's champion
Singaporeans were glued to our screens last night when our Olympic champion and national swimmer, Joseph Schooling, stepped up to the block to race for a chance to defend his men’s 100m butterfly title. Though Schooling fought hard, he failed to qualify for the semi-finals after clocking a time of 53.12s and finishing last in his heat. Only the top 16 will qualify for the semi-finals of the event.
See also: Tokyo 2020 Olympics: Joseph Schooling Fails to Qualify for Semi-Finals
Fans were quick to jump onto social media to voice their disappointment at the fact that Singapore lost out on an Olympic medal. However, things started to go a bit further than expected when some began to blame the athlete for not being better prepared.
That inspired many others to begin posting messages of encouragement to Schooling online with fans and politicians defending his performance and reminding everyone that simply making it to the Olympics was an achievement in itself and that we ought to be kinder.
Read on for some of the best messages of support shown online from public figures and social media users for our national swimmer.
See also: Team Singapore at Tokyo 2020 Olympics: All the Highlights So Far