Ferdi de Gannes

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Ferdi de Gannes (born October 4, 1929 in San Fernando ; † March 23, 2018 in Antigua ) was a Trinidadian cyclist who later started for Antigua and Barbuda .

Ferdi de Gannes was the eldest of four children from Ferdinand and Elaine de Gannes. He attended the prestigious St. Mary's College in Port of Spain . There he was initially active as a track and field athlete before he got into cycling by chance at a sports festival when he won a race with a borrowed bike. In 1948 he finished second in the country's first road race . In 1949 he initiated the establishment of the Trinidad and Tobago Cycling Federation (TTCF), which, with the support of the prominent politician Sir Hugh Wooding, applied for membership in the World Cycling Federation Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). As a result, there were disputes with the Amateur Athletic Association , which asserted a claim to sole representation and was held by Trinidad Leaseholds Ltd. , an oil company, was controlled. As a result, de Gannes and his cycling friends could not take part in official international competitions for two years until the cycling federation was finally admitted to the UCI. In 1952 he founded together with three other cyclists, including his brother Rolph and the Olympians of 1948 , Compton Gonsalves , the Madonna Wheelers Cycling Club , one of the oldest cycling clubs of Trinidad and Tobago. Rolph de Gannes founded another Madonna Wheelers Cycling Club in Toronto in 1985 .

Ferdi de Gannes trained as a pilot , worked for various local airlines and moved to Antigua.

In 1983, at the age of 54, Ferdi de Gannes made his comeback as a cyclist, subsequently competed in several Masters competitions and won numerous medals. At the Masters World Games in 1994 he set a track record in the 1000 meter time trial (1: 26.129 min.) In the age group 60+ at the National Sports Center Velodrome in Blaine , Minnesota . At the first UCI Track Cycling Masters World Championships in 1995 at the Manchester Velodrome , he was the oldest participant at the age of 66. During his stay in England, Hurricane Luis destroyed his home. In 2005, after participating in the World Masters Games in Edmonton and winning three bronze medals, he retired from active cycling.

For many years, de Gannes was President of the Antigua Cycling Association . In 1998 he was nominated for the election of "Sportsman of the Year" by Antigua and in 2001 he was accepted into the "National Sports Honor Roll" of the Antiguan Ministry of Sports.

De Gannes had lived in Antigua since the late 1950s. He died there on March 23, 2018.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Angela Pidduck: TT's forgotten cyclist . In: Trinidad Newsday . October 18, 2006.
  2. ↑ Compton Gonsalves ( Memento of January 29, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) in the Sports-Reference database
  3. ↑ Strava.com: Madonna Wheelers CC. Retrieved March 3, 2020 .
  4. ^ NSC Velodrome records. In: NSCSports.org. National Sports Center Foundation, archived from the original on December 20, 2011 ; Retrieved November 29, 2013 .
  5. ↑ CyclingMasters.com: History of the World Masters Track Championships. Retrieved May 30, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Angela Pidduck: Life of a high flier . In: Trinidad Express . April 18, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Gannes, Ferdi de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES de Gammes, Ferdi
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Trinidadian cyclist
DATE OF BIRTH October 4, 1929
PLACE OF BIRTH San Fernando (Trinidad and Tobago)
DATE OF DEATH 23 March 2018
Place of death Antigua