Ghana’s Alem Mumuni fails to glitter at London Paralympics

Ghana’s brightest spot at the London 2012 Paralympics Games, Alem Mumuni, failed to glitter in the Men’s Individual C2 Time Trial on Wednesday, September 5 at the Brands Hatch, London.

Mumuni, made a total time of 32.49.56 in the trial to place 16th, in a 16-man contest, in which he was the only African, with 8.14.44 behind the ultimate winner, Graf Tobias of Germany who made a time of 24.35.12 over a distance of eight kilometers.

Tobias was followed by Liang Guihua with a time of 24.40.33, whilst Maurice Eckhard Tio of Spain made a time 24.40.76 in a contest that is determined by how fast one is able to complete the distance despite the 60 seconds time interval in the starting point for each cyclist.

The three times International Cycling Union (UCI) Africa Champion, Mumuni who last week had to win a war against chicken pox before returning to full scale training to compete today, could not match up to the high level of standards displayed by his competitors hence failing to make any significant impact in the race.

Mumuni, 28, had earlier insisted on the significance of participating in the Paralympic Games, and was proud to have hoisted the flag of Ghana in the competition despite the position as he made an average speed of 29.245 time of 29.

The Ghanaian is expected to participate in the Road Race event on Thursday, September 6, at the same venue to end his campaign in the competition.

Shabaan Mohammed, Technical Director of the Ghana Cycling Association (GCA) commended the cyclist for being the only African to have qualified for the event.

“Its good we participated. We have learnt great lessons here and this will help improve the game in Ghana.” He told the GNA Sports.

Source: GNA