WHO YOU GHANA CALL
GOLD Coast cycling fans have come to the aid of the skint Ghana national road team, fundraising gear and providing training tips. In the feel-good Cool Runnings story of this year’s Commonwealth Games, Abdul Razak Umar, Abdul Razak Abdul Mumin and Boakye Dankwa Anthony Boafo say their new bikes make them feel as “fast as cars”.
GHANA’S Commonwealth Games cyclists have no coach or manager and shoddy gear but Gold Coast generosity has them riding high.
Cycling enthusiasts have adopted the skint team, fundraising thousands for parts and advising training routes.
They now call GC Bike Fit owner Peter Spencer “coach” for spearheading the project.
Mr Spencer said he met the team by chance after a friend hosting them at a hotel prior to moving to the Athletes Village called him up.
“They don’t have a coach, don’t have a manager. I’m asking ‘Where is your coach?’ and getting a blank look and it’s not the language barrier – they literally have no idea.
“If you measured these guys on heart alone, they are international class.
“It is not a matter of whether they are going to win or lose – they are not going to win. But the legacy of what is happening here will power Ghana cycling for the next decade,” Mr Spencer said.
A GoFundMe page targeting $5000 was at $2200 last night, and says: “They’ve come to the Gold Coast to compete. However, their equipment is sub-par to even a weekend warrior standard and well beyond worn.”
A ‘Project Ghana Cycling’ Facebook page has sparked widespread company support with everything from tyres, tubes and brake pads to nutritional packages donated.
Mr Spencer said team members were humble and he was honoured to help, dubbing it a “modern day Cool Runnings” in reference to the movie about the Jamaican bobsled team: “They are the sort of young men I’d be proud for my son to be like. It’s all ‘please sir, thank you’.
“The legacy they will go home with embodies what the Games spirit is all about.”
Ghana road cyclist Abdul Razak Abdul Mumin said the help had been “unbelievable and made us feel great”.
Joining teammates Abdul Razak Umar and Boakye Dankwa Anthony Boafo for training yesterday, he said the upgrades to their bikes had made them faster than they had ever imagined.
“Now we moving as fast as a car,” Mr Boafo said.
Donors are FE Sports, SCV Imports, Bicycle Parts Wholesale, Bikesport Importz, EVOLVE Skateboards.
NOW WE MOVING AS FAST AS A CAR GHANA ROAD CYCLIST, BOAKYE DANKWA ANTHONY BOAFO
TAKE a bow Peter Spencer and all the other Gold Coast cyclists who have taken the Ghanaian cycling team under their wing.
As reported today, the visitors arrived on the Gold Coast with little equipment, outdated bikes, no coach and no manager, but still intent on giving their all to compete at the Commonwealth Games.
Their humble nature, big hearts and determination to have a go have certainly struck a chord.
The response by the local cycling fraternity, generous businesses and all the others who read about the Ghanaians’ situation after Mr Spencer, a former Australian cyclist, set up Project Ghana Cycling on Facebook, has resulted in contributions of gear worth thousands of dollars to assist the underdogs.
It doesn’t matter whether they win or lose. People just want them to have the chance to compete on a level playing field and to do their best.
These are the ideals of the Commonwealth Games.
Rest assured that when those cyclists compete in the road race around Currumbin, there will be a roar of spectator approval and shouts urging them on.
This is what the Commonwealth Games, also known as the Friendly Games, is all about.
This is the spirit of the purity and sanctity of sport, but with our particular Commonwealth twist that goes right back to the first Games held in Hamilton, Canada, in 1930.
Organisers at that first event issued a statement outlining the principles, which read: “It will be designed in the Olympic model, both in general construction and its stern definition of the amateur. But the Games will be very different, free from both the excessive stimulus and the babel of the international stadium. They should be merrier and less stern, and it will substitute the stimulus of novel adventure for the pressure of international rivalry.’’
The vast crowd at those first Games in Hamilton entered the spirit.
When a New Zealand competitor was disqualified after two false starts in the third heat of the 100 yards sprint, spectators made so much noise urging the referees to show leniency that the race could not continue until she was allowed back in the field.
Meanwhile the rock stars of the athletics track have also arrived on the Gold Coast, although there is little need for locals to feel the Jamaicans, who have dominated the sprints for years, need a special hand.
The Jamaicans too have embraced the spirit of the Games.
Retired “legend’’ Usain Bolt, whose role at the Gold Coast when he arrives will be ambassadorial, has a special bond with the public forged through his willingness to be accessible.
This week we have urged Gold Coasters to get on board for this wonderful Games journey.
We are already witnessing the spirit of friendship and fair play.
As the magical response from the cycling public to help the team from Ghana achieve their best demonstrates, the “stimulus of novel adventure’’ that trumps the pressure of rivalry is very much in play.