Cycling community unites to support Ethiopian champion turned asylum seeker

Trhas Teklehaimanot Tesfay is no ordinary elite cyclist. The reigning Ethiopian national champion does not live an austere life because she wants to, but because she has to.

The 22-year-old currently lives in the UK having claimed asylum last year, and is being supported by charity West London Welcome. Her home country, Ethiopia, has recently endured a brutal conflict in the Tigray region.

Tesfay lives in a hotel in west London, sharing a room with two others, and is given less than £10 a week to live off. She still hopes to be able to ride at the highest level, and could potentially take part in future World Championships as part of the refugee team if her asylum claim is accepted. Her story has been picked up by both the BBC and The Guardian .

This is all happening at the same time as the Government ramping up its anti-refugee rhetoric, which is seen in its plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda. Tesfay has made her way from Ethiopia to seek safety, yet could find herself returned to east Africa.

However, the local cycling community has come together to support Tesfay and her riding. Team Africa Rising has mobilised its network of contacts including Zwift , local cycling clubs and organisations. The Pedal Club recently hosted her at their monthly lunch and passed on a donation to help with racing expenses, and she’s been racing for the Kingston Wheelers at Hillingdon.

Meanwhile, Tesfay has been supplied with kit from the UCI’s World Cycling Centre that identifies and supports athletes from around the world. "I am super happy with the new Scott bike from the team at UCI, and with the online training access I have been given by Zwift.” she said. “I am also so happy to work with Alice. I am very lucky that so many people are trying to help me."

While many people in Tesfay’s situation face an uncertain future, it’s hoped that with her previous achievements, and the attention from the media, she will be granted refugee status in the UK, and therefore be able to guarantee her future.

Amnesty International’s 2023 report for Ethiopia reads: “Fresh clashes between the federal army and Amhara Fano militias erupted in the Amhara region, and human rights violations, including arbitrary arrests and detentions, were committed in this context; extrajudicial executions were carried out in the Tigray region.”

“I try to cycle for six or six and a half hours a day, six days a week,” she told The Guardian last month. “When I’m on my bike I can switch off from all my problems. When I’m cycling it’s just me and the bike. If I can’t cycle, I’m just stuck in my room and my anxiety increases.”

"There was no question when I heard about Trhas and her situation, that we would mobilize our resources to get her back on the road,” Kimberly Coats, the CEO of Africa Rising, explained.

“Team Africa Rising has been working in African cycling since 2007 and many of our sponsors and supporters have been with us all these years. Trhas deserves the same opportunity a young woman from a stable country deserves — the right to be safe and to show the world her talent. This remarkable woman inspires us all with her laser focus to return to competitive cycling."

She now has a coach, Alice Lethbridge, a former BBAR champion, who is helping her get back on the road.

“When a good friend reached out to me looking for ‘London-based’ women to help Trhas I didn’t hesitate to join the team supporting her,” Lethbridge said. “I’d read her story a week earlier, and I can’t even begin to imagine the challenges she faced to get this far.

"Trhas’ positivity and enthusiasm is inspiring and I’m so glad I could help her get back racing. I’m excited to see where her talent and dedication takes her in the coming years and honoured to have got the chance to be part of Trhas’ journey.”