AFRICA PARACYCLING CHAMPIONSHIPS TANDEM ROAD: BOLD DERY WINS GOLD IN MEN’S TANDEM ROAD

It was an indescribable atmosphere to see the collection of classified Paracyclists from Ghana who stormed the Ablekuma Ollebu stretch in their flamboyant National jerseys to participate in the final day of events involving the C class, B, and H categories.

Four countries had registered their intent to make a mark in the upcoming Paralympics in Paris next year; Nigeria, Morrocco, Algeria, Senegal and host country Ghana .

The pendulum of hope and determination had began to manifest on the faces of the plentiful Athletes who got classified in their respective categories. S Gold medal was beckoning.

The cynosure of such medal thirst was in the Men’s Tandem Road Race. And debutants,Peter Dery with Peter Osei as pilot, had already discarded the thought of any fear by winning the Gold medal in 57 mins 02 seconds to secure a Paris 2024 ticket.

A four lap heated tarmac battle over 32 km completed the B Men’s category. The Nigerian duo ,Abaka Kurotimi and Abdulai portrayed a threat in the first two laps.

The Upper West roller, Peter Dery had began to stimulate the confidence of the crowd.

The last lap was eclectic. An astonishing paddle control by Peter Dery and Pilot,on the far side produced a breakaway time of almost 4 minutes between them and the approaching Nigerians, Tijani Oyindamola Abdullah.It was visibly too late to call. Third position again went to Ghana with Alhassan Abdul Rahman winning Bronze in 1:05:23.

The Ghanaian Educationist cum rider had gotten a good bend towards the Ablekuma road. He had torn off by far , infact almost 5 minutes now.

The debutant Tandem rider now would cross the finish line in style, with both hands in the skies, breaking a record in the Tandem category to win Gold for Ghana. I’m finality, he stretched the time between him and the Nigerians by 6 minutes. Paris 2024 had become a reality for the Upper West roller.

In the Women’s category, girls favourite, Favour Ayiglo became a favour for Ghana when she snatched the Gold medal in a gruelling 36km Road Tandem Race over 4 laps closely followed by Susana Owusu with Silver and Alice Adakurugu winning Bronze.

Ghana’s Richard Atta Yaw won Bronze in the C1-C5 category in a distance of 36km in 4 laps in a time of 1:04:33 with Algerian Djaber Aymen winning silver and the ultimate Gold medal going to Merat Zinedine of Algeria Winning Gold.

The Paracycling category of this year’s Championships saw Ghana winning 7 medals to their credit, making a good stride towards next year’s Paralympic Games in Paris.

Dennis Kweku Moore
Public Relations -Ghana Cycling Federation