WATCH ABOVE: A local cycling club has donated more than $40,000 in cycling equipment to help Cuban athletes compete at their best during and after the Pan Am games. Lama Nicolas reports.
TORONTO — A Toronto cycling community is rallying behind the Cuban national cycling team at the Pan Am Games, by donating more than $40,000 worth of gear to help them compete at their best.
Eon D’Ornellas, a four-time Olympian and two-time Canadian Road Racing Champion who runs both the D’Ornellas Cycling Club and D’Ornellas Bike Shop in Toronto, said he was inspired to help the athletes after learning about the lackluster equipment they were set to use in the competition.
“Our club was in Cuba and we were riding with some of the Cuban athletes, some of the athletes that will be on the national team for Cuba, and they were very strong, very helpful, very knowledgeable — but the equipment they were using was not up to standard,” he said.
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“And at the end of our trip we got together and we donated everything that we had for them … because as a young guy growing up in South America I got a lot of support in the years from other well intentioned people that had quite a bit of money.”
D’Ornellas said he donated a racing bike valued at between $6,000 and $7,000 on the trip, but when he heard the athletes coming to Toronto for the Pan Am Games needed more equipment, he stepped up to the challenge with club president Lawrence Levin and the two have been donating equipment for the past few years.
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“So when we heard the Cuban athletes were coming, we first got an email saying that one of the athletes is looking for a bicycle,” D’Ornellas said.
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“When you race at the Games there’s a lot of things that happen, a crash or a bad accident, and you know the bike could be damaged. So we had a member of our club that donated a bicycle to her to race.”
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Lisandra Guerra, 27, has been competing since the age of 16, said she was overjoyed with the generosity of the club. She suffered a splinter in her arm during competition on Saturday and will be returning to Cuba tomorrow.
“Of course bikes and everything are expensive. Sometimes we are not able to get the best bike … but they helped us a lot and they gave us good bikes for the race and everything,” she said.
“We are very happy with that and we appreciate it very much, the team and the rest of the athletes in Cuba will be very happy with this and that will help us a lot to improve.”
Guerra said the gesture means a lot to the team because of the high cost of cycling equipment and lack of availability in Cuba.
“If somebody wants to help us of course we will appreciate the help and we will be really happy for this,” she said, adding that the sweltering Toronto temperatures have reminded her of Cuba.
“It has been hot like at home … But it’s ok, it’s very nice.”
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Teammate 22-year-old Arlenis Sierra, who will be receiving a new bike for competition from D’Ornellas, echoed Guerra’s excitement over the new equipment, adding “it’s not a thing that everybody receives.”
“It’s a very beautiful thing because a bike for us is very costly,” she said, adding that training in Cuba can be difficult with inadequate equipment.
“It’s a hard thing but with the help from people like you guys we continue forward and it keeps us going.”
D’Ornellas estimated the value of goods over the years at between $30,000 and $40,000.
“It’s getting even more because now we see the benefit of it — doing well, moving up in the levels of cycling to get onto the big national team I think will be a very successful team,” he said.
“I feel good about it, I feel good that I can share that passion … so for me it’s like a dream come true.”
With files from Lama Nicolas
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