may-2012

Adrien Niyonshuti
When Jonathan “Jock” Boyer, the first American to ride in the
Tour de France, travelled to Rwanda in 2006, he was astounded
by the power and speed of the sprightly 19-year-old who had
claimed victory in the inaugural wooden-bike classic held in
the city of Kibuye. “He was powerful and very efficient on the
bike from the first time I saw him,” remembers Boyer. “He had
raw talent, no question.”
Now six years on, the teenager in question, Adrien
Niyonshuti, has swapped his wooden bike for a mountain bike
and, thanks to the guidance of Boyer at the Team Rwanda
cycling squad, has become a sporting icon in Rwanda.
Niyonshuti, who is now a member of the South African UCI
Continental team MTN Qhubeka, finished in the top 10 of the
Tour of Rwanda five years in a row, and won the tour in 2006
and 2008. In 2009 he took part in the Tour of Ireland,
becoming the first Rwandan cyclist to appear in the European
professional peloton.
He has high hopes of making his country proud when he
participates in the cross-country mountain bike race at the 2012
{ AFRICAN OLYMPIANS }
The wheel deal: Rwanda's Adrien Niyonshuti will compete in the cross-country mountain biking contest
brussels airlines b.spirit! magazine may-jun
{ 22 }
London Olympics. “My dream is that I want to win an Olympic
medal,” says the now 25-year-old. “But even to finish the race
would be a good result for me and my country.”
Jangy Addy
To represent one’s country at the Olympic Games is one of the
foremost dreams of any sportsperson. But to be chosen to carry
the flag for one’s nation at the event is in some ways an even
greater honour. Jangy Addy finished a respectable 20th in the
men’s decathlon at the Olympic Games in Beijing – having set a
national record of 7,665 points, 149 points ahead of the sole
British competitor – but for the Liberian one of his proudest
moments was being selected as one of 204 flag-bearers for the
opening ceremony in the Bird’s Nest stadium that was watched
by billions of people on television.
Addy has an American background – the 27-year-old was born
in Sacramento, California, and attended university in Tennessee
where he gra duated in 2007 with a degree in journalism and
electronic media – but his heart lies in West Africa. And Addy
hopes to improve on his decathlon points tally in London.