Ghana’s name was once again registered in the history books of para cycling in the world when Yaw Korsah, H2 Paracyclist, won two bronze medals at the just-ended UCI World Cup in South Africa.
Korsah won the medals in a dramatic manner after he was nearly prevented from competing on his tricycle considered by the organizers as below standard.
After persistent pleas from him and his coach, Mohammed Riyahd, he was given the chance with some adjustments made to the tricycle he had borrowed from his colleague Adjetey Sowah, who couldn’t travel to South Africa to compete for lack of funds.
In what could be termed a miracle, in the road race the determined athlete had to come off his cycle to fix his torn chain after waiting in vain for the technical men.He got back on the cycle to place third, losing his comfortable lead to the first and second cyclists.
Unperturbed by the unfortunate incident, Korsah went into the tracks to pick the second bronze for Ghana in his second competition.
In an interview, he lamented that he could have done far better if the right equipment was put at his disposal. “If this is what I can do with this sub-standard tricycle, you can imagine what would have happened with a standardized one.”
His views were supported by his coach, Riyahd Mohammed who expressed his unhappy with the lack of support from the authorities to persons with disability (PWDs). He showered praise on Yaw Korsah for showing resilience in the face of the challenges.
Technical Director of the Ghana Cycling Federation, Shaban Mohammed, appealed to Ghanaians to show interest in cycling, , especially para cycling, where many athletes are ‘rotting away’ due to lack of support.
Ghanaian Wins Two Paracycling Medals In Dramatic Fashion
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