Guyana’s male and female cyclists were in dominant form yesterday morning taking the first and second spots in the female 40km road race and first and third places in the male 60km road race which both ended at the Demerara Habour Bridge yesterday morning.
Paul DeNobraga comfortably secured first place in the male race while Marcia Dick and Naomi Singh, were first and second respectively in the female category.
Guyana’s male riders shrugged aside their poor performance in Saturday’s Time Trials and were on top of their game yesterday.
DeNobrega crossed the finish line unchallenged in a time of one hour 31 minutes and 40 seconds (1:31:40), while Neil Reece was third with a time of one hour 36 minutes and 39 seconds (1:36:39).
Reece, who is known for his burst of speed in the final stretch, captured third place after outsprinting Suriname’s Murvin Arunjo, who finished fourth in a time of one hour 36 minutes and 51 seconds (1:36:51).
French Guiana’s Lavenette Christian was second in one hour 32 minutes and 25 seconds (1:32:25).
The females also bettered their two-three Time Trial placings with their one-two finish
yesterday.
But the result brought much debate and grievances among spectators, officials and family members who lined the road way to witness the culmination of the event.
Officially, it was recorded that both Dick and Singh clocked a time of one hour 15 minutes and 49 seconds, since they unconventionally held hands in celebration prior to their crossing the finish line together.
Unaware of the mistake the cyclists made by crossing the line together, cheering broke out until it was announced by officials that one of them would have to settle for second place and the silver medal.
Though Singh and Dick were fairly calm during the process of figuring out who won the cheers quickly turned to arguments as debates raged among spectators, family members and other interested parties over who should get the top spot.
Originally Singh was adjudged the winner of the race, based on a review of photographs taken of the finish.
But this decision was reversed a short while afterwards when further analysis of the photographs were done.
This move sparked an outburst by those who felt Singh had won the race and left Singh in tears as she was demoted to the second position.
Meanwhile, although being declared the winner, Dick too was seen in a sombre state over the controversy that arose from what the cyclists, who are also friends, thought was a finish that depicted team spirit.
The male race also had its share of questions raised by officials of the French cycling delegation as they claimed the race winner, DeNobrega, extended the gap on French Guiana’s Christian with the help of the police vehicle, since according to the French officials, he paced the vehicle, which is illegal in cycling.
At the end of the race, Guyanese race officials stated that they had heard of the allegations that the police escort was too close to DeNobrega and they informed the ranks to distance themselves from the cyclist.
Another issue raised was that Guyana’s Rastaff O’Selmo was a part of the cycling team during Saturday’s Time Trials, but was replaced by Marlon King for yesterday’s road race and other officials were not informed of the change.
Both issues were being addressed by the home and visiting officials at the end of the race.
