PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) – Ousline Georges, 22, only started to take cycling seriously a year ago, wary of the many hurdles she faced such as the prohibitive cost of a decent bicycle and the treacherous roads in her home country of Haiti, the poorest in the Americas.
This past weekend though, she became the first Haitian ever to win a medal in the Caribbean Road Cycling Championship, thanks to a new program created by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)that fosters the sport in small, developing nations.
“I was really moved,” said Georges, a student and mother of a four-year old boy. “When I saw the others cry over my victory, I cried too.”
Cycling is not an easy sport to practice in Haiti, a country wracked by poverty, natural catastrophes and political instability.
Bicycles and a good diet are too expensive for most and there are few roads that lend themselves to training given the destruction wrought by the 2010 earthquake and a scarcity of cash to build…
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