Renowned Ethiopian racing cyclist Geremew Denboba has passed away at the age of 90 after undergoing treatment.
The late Geremew Denboba was born on December 16, 1932 in Addis Ababa.
He was the first athlete to represent Ethiopia in cycling in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.
In 1956, Ethiopia participated in the 16th Olympic Games in cycling and athletics. Geremew finished 24th in the road cycling race, but topped his African and Asian competitors. Mesfin Tesfaye, Tsehay Bahta, and Mengistu Nigussie represented Ethiopia alongside Geremew Denboba. As a result, the Ethiopian cycling team was able to claim the 4th spot, owing to Geremew’s achievement.
However, in his second outing in the 17th Olympic Games, held in Rome, Italy, in 1960, Geremew crashed out of the competition. Unfortunately, he ended up in hospital with a broken leg.
After his injury, he embarked the coaching career and led the Ethiopian team in the 19th Olympic Games held in Tokyo, Japan.
In 1973, he led the Ethiopian cycling team to a gold medal in the second All African Games held in Lagos, Nigeria.
It is stated that Geremew Denboba is the most successful racing cyclist that Ethiopia has produced to date. According to the reports he has won 26 trophies and 32 medals in various competitions.
The funeral service for the late cyclist Geremew Demboba was held at Petros-wo-Paulos Church on Friday February 24.

Ethiopian teenager Senayet Getachew upset the pre-race favourites to win a close and arduous U20 women’s race staged in searing 36C heat at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships Bathurst 23.
Getachew, 17, who finished third in her national junior cross country trial, claimed gold in the rough-and-tumble 6km encounter.
Ethiopian compatriot Medina Eisa, 18, finished close on her teammate’s heels to snatch the silver. Just a breadth away in third was Kenya’s Pamela Kosgei, 15.
The podium times reflect the closeness of the race which featured steep downhill, mud and slush, taxing climbs and challenging mounds with Getachew clocking 20:53, Medina 21:00 and Kosgei 21:01.
Getachew credited her Ethiopian teammates with assisting her breakthrough victory.
The event was staged at Bathurst’s Mount Panorama, the spiritual home of Australian motor sport which hosts the annual Bathurst 1000, a 1000km annual race for touring cars, held each October. The site for the 2km loop course was chosen because of the rural setting and tough terrain.
For her part, Medina can add her silver medal to the 5000m gold she won at the 2022 World U20 Championships.
By claiming the medals, the top three finishers also honored history and previous champions as the last time an athlete outside of Kenya or Ethiopia made it on to the U20 women’s podium at the World Cross was 24 years ago, back in 1999.
What’s more, no athlete outside of Kenya or Ethiopia has won the U20 women’s world cross –country title for 28 years.
Predictably, in the team competition Ethiopia won gold (15) while Kenya scored silver (22). More surprisingly the United States snared the bronze (54), led by Ellie Shea.