The Olympic cyclist lived through the genocide and many of his family were killed. Now his achievements are helping to change the way the world views Rwanda – and how it sees itself
There have been a lot of odd moments in Adrien Niyonshuti's life recently. Most of them started when a group of Americans arrived in Rwanda and put on a bicycle race in September 2006. Adrien, a 19-year-old student, won and, as his prize, he was allowed to keep the mountain bike he had borrowed from the visitors for the event. It was a Schwinn, nothing that special by western standards, but exponentially more advanced than anything little, landlocked Rwanda – about the size of Wales but with four times as many inhabitants – had ever seen. He actually didn't ride it very much. No one else in the country had a mountain bike to go with him, so it was dull on his own.
There have been a lot of odd moments in Adrien Niyonshuti's life recently. Most of them started when a group of Americans arrived in Rwanda and put on a bicycle race in September 2006. Adrien, a 19-year-old student, won and, as his prize, he was allowed to keep the mountain bike he had borrowed from the visitors for the event. It was a Schwinn, nothing that special by western standards, but exponentially more advanced than anything little, landlocked Rwanda – about the size of Wales but with four times as many inhabitants – had ever seen. He actually didn't ride it very much. No one else in the country had a mountain bike to go with him, so it was dull on his own.
- 7/22/2013
- by Tim Lewis
- The Guardian - Film News
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