The Super World Championship in Glasgow has now been over for a few days, but a rider’s tribute continues to be heard today. And that for a very special reason.
Tuesday 15 August 2023 at 19:06
The rider in question is Ricardo Ten, a Spanish paralympic cyclist and swimmer. The now 48-year-old Ten lost his arms and left leg at the age of eight after touching high-voltage cables.
Ten didn’t stay with the suits, because he threw himself into sports. With success, because he was a swimmer at the Paralympic Games in Atlanta (1996), Sydney (2000); Beijing (2008), London (2012) and Rio (2016). After those last games he took a different tack and tried it as a cyclist. He took part in the Paralympic Games in Tokyo (2021).
However, the absolute pinnacle reached Ten last week. The Spaniard won the world title in the C1 class at the World Cup in Glasgow. Proud as a watering can, Ten received his rainbow jersey and gold medal on the podium.
But let one of the souvenirs you get as a world champion be a watch from UCI partner Tissot. In principle a nice extra, but due to the lack of forearms it looked rather silly when UCI president David Lappartient handed over the watch to Ten. The video of the scene went viral and has since been viewed more than 3 million times.
But Ten himself didn’t let it get to his heart. He posted an amusing video on his own Twitter account in which he wears the Tissot watch on his arm. “Ricardo, what time is it? It’s world champion time”, he shouts.
