It wasn’t a debut that cyclist Moise Mugisha was expecting in the Olympic Games as his hopes for a medal were cut short after a car accident forced him out of the men's road race held on Saturday, July 24, during the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Games.
The 24-year-old was among 41 riders who were not able to finish the race which brought together 126 riders from 57 countries.
Ecuadorian rider Richard Carapaz raced 234km in 6 hours 05 minutes and 26 secs to strike gold ahead of Belgian Wout van Aert and Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, who completed the podium with Silver and Bronze medals respectively.
The latter was favorite to finish top of the race after his triumphant performance that saw him win the 2021 Tour de France champion, his second in a row.
Mugisha pulled out of the competition inside 140 km en route to Fuji after he accidentally hit a referee’s car as he was trying to get some water from another car.
"The commissaire’s car stopped while waiting to get some water from another car and its spare part hit my head and they rushed me to hospital,” he told VOA Kirundi-Kinyarwanda.
Mugisha said he was still strong enough to continue the race and was hoping to compete until the end had he not been involved in an accident.
"I pulled out of the race by the time I was starting to think of how I would catch the peloton of leading riders. I was feeling strong enough to finish the race,” he said
Despite the accident, Mugisha said competing with the best riders in the world was an experience that will help him improve his level of performance in future cycling tournaments.
"It was an honor to compete against a cyclist who won the Tour de France and other world’s best cyclists. It’s an experience that I was hoping to learn from them to see if I can reach their level in the next two or three years and establish myself among cyclists who compete at bigger competitions,” he said.
"I competed in African and world road race championships but this is the biggest race I have ever attended given that every cyclist, including Tour de France riders, wanted to compete in and win it,” he added.
Mugisha is one of five Rwandan representatives at the Tokyo 2020 Games alongside marathoners John Hakizimana and Marthe Yankurije as well as swimming duo Eloi Maniraguha and Alphonsine Agahozo.
Agahozo was Team Rwanda’s flag-bearer during the colorful Tokyo 2020 Games opening ceremony on Friday, July 23, alongside Hakizimana, who replaced cyclist Moise Mugisha at the last minute as the latter was preparing to compete in the men’s road race.
According to the schedule, swimmers Eloi Maniraguha and Alphonsine Agahozo will both compete next in the 50m freestyle on July 30 at Tokyo Aquatic Stadium while Marthe Yankurije, on the same day, run in the women’s 5,000m category race at Tokyo Olympic Stadium.