Twenty canoes hurtle through the foaming water to the steady rhythm of drums and roars from spectators lined up along Bangui’s river banks.
The race is traditionally the highlight of celebrations on the Central African Republic’s (CAR) national day, Dec. 1.
For years, citizens were deprived of the much-loved spectacle as their country was torn apart by civil war.
Photo: AFP
Two-thirds of the former French colony remains under the control of rebel groups.
As the intensity of intercommunal fighting has receded — the capital Bangui has remained relatively untouched by violence since a peace accord between the government and armed groups last year — the races have at last resumed.
Using large wooden canoes, the competition pits four ethnic groups — the Mbaka, Sango, Modjombo and Yakoma — against each other for the title of Best Paddlers.
Photo: AFP
The groups live along the Ubangi River, the country’s largest.
“Before, it was the Yakoma who always won, but since 2003, it’s been the Mbaka every year,” said Mesmin, chief of Ngaragba, a peaceful riverside community populated mostly by Yakoma.
On the day of the race, Mesmin arrived early for the final preparations, testing the canoe, as the team stretched in the scorching sun.
Mesmin is a former competitor and a local hero to those who remember the famous second place title won by his team in his youth.
However, the chief is well aware that this year Ngaragba’s 30 or so paddlers have no chance.
The Mbaka, from the Lobaye forest region in the southwest, can build huge canoes — 1m wide and 20m long — capable of carrying up to 90 paddlers.
The team with the biggest pirogue almost always wins.
The technique of the Mbaka, who paddle standing up, also gives them an advantage over the Yakoma and Sango, who row seated.
“It’s our traditional way of paddling,” team leader Yvon Akelelo said. “We’re not going to change it.”
However, it is above all community solidarity that allows their opponents to build these giant vessels, whose prices can reach the equivalent of US$1,800.
“Before, all the families in our neighborhood used to contribute, but not anymore,” Mesmin said.
The young people of Ngaragba make do with a more modest boat, rented by the day for the equivalent of US$35.
Still, it is not enough to dampen the fervor of the rowers.
At 1pm, all of the canoes are gathered together.
The reigning champions can be spotted by their uniforms and matching colors on their boats — and by their perfectly synchronized movements.
Ngaragba’s small boat pales in comparison to its giant rivals, but it takes more than that to dampen the morale of the rowers, who are cheered from the shore by their neighbors.
The long-awaited race lasts barely 10 minutes.
After making a loop, the first boats approach the finish line. Their crews expend the last of their strength and the canoes glide across the sun-drenched water like long millipedes.
Once again, the Mbaka win everything.
“First, second, third, fourth and fifth place, are all Mbaka. The Yakoma are seventh,” said Mesmin, his ear glued to a radio broadcasting live commentary.
And, finally, coming in last, is Ngaragba’s team.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier