Former national cyclist dies in Mandela Avenue motorcycle crash

Former national cyclist Alanzo Nicholas Greaves was on Wednesday evening killed after losing control of a motorcycle he was driving in the vicinity of the Botanical Gardens, Mandela Avenue, Georgetown.
Thirty-six-year-old Greaves of Gordon Street, Kitty, Georgetown, was at the time driving a red, white and black Ducati motorcycle, CH 5222.
Police stated that the motorcyclist was proceeding along Mandela Avenue at a fast rate, without wearing his safety helmet, and while in the vicinity of the Botanical Gardens, he lost control of his motorcycle, causing it to come into contact with a heap of mud that was on the extreme edge of the road beyond the continuous white line.
Greaves sustained injuries to his head and other parts of his body.
Emergency medical technicians were summoned to the accident scene and subsequently pronounced him dead. Further investigation is ongoing.
Greaves, a father of three, was the youngest of five siblings.
He attended the JE Burnham Primary, then the Queenstown Secondary, but after a year took a transfer to the Business School, where he completed his Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC).
He began his cycling at age 15 after excelling in athletics during primary school. He initially joined the Roraima Bikers Club, briefly switched to the Carlton Wheelers in 2007, then returned to Roraima. His major local achievements include winning the National Five Stage and National Championship in 2007 and the National Three Stage in 2009.
In 2013, he placed in several national races and competed internationally, including in the US, Suriname, and the Caribbean Championships in Curaçao.
He had ambitions to represent Guyana at the 2016 Olympics but was suspended for one year in 2016 after failing a doping test. This ban was extended by three more years in 2017.
In 2019, Greaves suffered a serious knee injury in a car accident, leading to multiple surgeries. Six years later, cognisant that he might never ride again, he established his taxi service and a car wash.
Prior to his demise on Wednesday evening, he was reportedly hanging out with friends at a popular bar along Sheriff Street, Georgetown.
As news spread about the fatal crash, scores of cyclists, friends and sporting organisations took to social media to mourn his passing.
The Guyana Olympic Association has also extended its deepest sympathies to the family, relatives, teammates, and friends of the former national cyclist, who tragically lost his life.
The Association expressed, “The cycling fraternity and the wider sporting community have lost an athlete and a true son of the soil who proudly represented Guyana.
“To his family, friends, colleagues, and loved ones, we pray that God grants you strength, comfort, and courage during this difficult time. Alanzo will be fondly remembered and greatly missed,” the Association said.