Cycling has many benefits, but for Amir Ansari, the first rider off the ramp in the men’s time trial race at the Paris Olympic Games, it is more than just a sport.

The 24-year-old Afghan competes in the colors of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team, highlighting how cycling gave him hope during his darkest moments while striving to build a new life.

“My ambition is to represent 120 million refugees around the world and think about those who have lost their lives on the way. I was one of those lucky ones who made it all the way,” he said in declarations to the Games organizers.

Ansari’s turbulent childhood as a member of the Hazara ethnic group saw him move from Iran to Afghanistan and then back to Iran, before eventually settling in Sweden in the middle of winter.

He said the cold and dark journey gave him “depression-plus,” so he went back to what he knew as a child – cycling.

He ended up at the Stockholm Racing Club and a national team doctor gave him an old mountain bike on the condition that he trained hard.

“I remember this old aluminium, heavy bike going faster than everyone and everyone was amazed by this tiny guy,” explained Ansari.

Despite finding happiness in the saddle, Ansari still had plenty of problems to face, when his application to stay in Sweden was initially turned down, leaving him depressed and in a desperate situation where “you don’t have any place to live, and you don’t have any money, and you cannot work, and you cannot study.”

Once again, the Stockholm Cycling Club and the Swedish Cycling Federation stepped in to help, and Ansari now has Swedish residency and is able to study and to train.

“I am not dreaming about beating anyone,” he said. “But I will try to do my best so that when I come to the finish line, I will be proud of myself and not regret anything,” he concluded.

African Times has published this article in partnership with Xinhua News Agency