Episode #17

Hello, my name is Daniel Abraham Gebru, reigning Paralympic cycling champion for the Netherlands, but my roots are in Eritrea. Currently, I am mentoring young refugees in the Netherlands and trying to inspire them by showing them how sports can help them integrate in the Netherlands. In addition, I am working hard towards my goal of successfully defending my Olympic title. I am happy to share my experiences, highs and lows with you on the road to Tokyo 2020!

The first event of my Tokyo 2020 adventure is done and dusted. Earlier today I signed the start sheet of the Men’s C5 4km Individual Pursuit. How I got on, you will be able to read later in this blog post. First, I want to take you back to the days prior to the pursuit. Since I last updated you, a lot of work has been done. I am talking about track specific training sessions, but also some easier outdoor rides in the Greater Tokyo Area. The feeling in the legs was good and I was also happy that I was able to adapt quickly to the hot conditions and high humidity. And besides that: I had the chance to see the amazing Mount Fuji once again. Just wow!

My eager to compete grew day by day and I was ready to go all-in on the state-of-the-art track here in Tokyo. Earlier this morning, my TeamNL teammates Alyda Norbruis (silver) and Caroline Groot (bronze) took already two medals in the Women’s 500m Time Trial. Alyda did this in the C1-C3 category, Caroline in the C4-C5 category. This really boosted my morale. At 11:14 local time, my event started with the qualifiers. The goals was simple: finish within the four best times to be able to compete for at least a medal.

"THE FEELING IN THE LEGS WAS GOOD AND I WAS HAPPY THAT I WAS ABLE TO ADAPT QUICKLY TO THE HOT CONDITIONS AND HIGH HUMIDITY"

I have to admit that I may have started off too slow. After 1km, I recorded the sixth best time, which was not enough. In the following minutes I was able to get it all together again and I started to make my way up the ranks: fifth after 2km, fourth after 3km. By doing so, however, I spent maybe a little bit too much energy, which costed me in the final 1000 meter. Here, I lost more than two seconds on the best leader, but more importantly, I lost out of that top four qualification spot. Well, no medal race for me. Am I disappointed? Maybe a little. But the good things is that I have still two events to race and I am very much confident about those ones. All in all, this opening event has been truly amazing and I am happy that I was a part of it.

Remaining race program
31.08 | Individual Time Trial (Road)
02.09 | C4-5 Road Race (Road)

See you soon, Daniel

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