Caymanian cyclist Nathaniel Forbes has joined an under-23 international development cycling team based in Portugal weeks after Cayman Islands Cycling Association decided not to include him in the national team at last month’s Pan American Championships.
Cayman Cycling has stated that Forbes, a two-time national champion, was not chosen to compete for Cayman in the PanAm Cycling Championships in Panama City as a disciplinary move after the athlete aired over social media internal issues between him and the association.
Many in the community have expressed disappointment with Cayman Cycling for its decision, including Sports Minister Bernie Bush, Olympian Ronald Forbes and several other athletes.
In its statement on the controversy, Cayman Cycling said, “Differences will undoubtedly occur but using the media and social platforms as an outlet of choice to air these differences and grievances, especially when they inaccurately reflect the situation, can cause reputational harm to both the athlete and association.”
The association’s comments stemmed from a post by Forbes on his Instagram page in January where he expressed his frustration with how the association treated his coach, Ken Gokool – a situation that had been ongoing since 2022.
Forbes said in his post that he felt mistreated by the association behind the scenes and his patience had run out.
“I found out that my coach can no longer attend any international races with team Cayman,” he wrote. Forbes’ post came a few weeks after he withdrew from the 2022 Caribbean Cycling Championships, held 22-23 Oct. in the Dominican Republic, because the association turned down his request to have his coach accompany him to what he called a very important race for his career.
“My coach has been there for me when no one else was,” Forbes said in the post. “He is the reason why I’m at this level. They want to… say that… they are the reason for my success, which is false. As the one that sacrificed so much for the sport of cycling, I have no voice. No one cares about my opinions and I agree with you all, something needs to change.”
Speaking with the Compass, coach Gokool said that the situation was “disgraceful” on the association’s part. The Compass received documents which included a contract agreement that was given to Forbes.
“The cycling association ‘slave agreement’ they tried to get Forbes to sign… so they can own him; this agreement was never approved by the membership and goes against the constitution,” Gokool said.
Part of the contract requires Forbes to share his training and competition data with Cayman Cycling via a prescribed data collection platform – a demand Gokool said he didn’t want his athlete to agree to, saying he felt the association wanted to use Forbes’ training regimes but then take the coach away from competitions.
“I have called for the board to resign over the handling for Forbes and downgrading of Cayman international standard…,” Gokool said. “As a UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale governing body) coach, I am code-bounded not to share any cyclist data with unauthorised personnel.
“The expats on the board are only there to collect PR points and don’t care what happens to Forbes.”
“It’s a breach of data protection, but they tried to ask Nathaniel to submit this freely to them. When he refused, they came with the agreement that he has to [sign], otherwise he can’t ride for Cayman. The expats on the board are only there to collect PR points and don’t care what happens to Forbes.”
Sports minister: Cayman Cycling won’t get ‘a five cent’
Forbes’ social media post prompted the cycling association to take action, noting in its release that publicly posting against the association can damage relationships with, or jeopardise further support from, the Cayman Islands government, Olympic Committee, sponsors and partners.
But it seems the CICA plans to keep that support has backfired.
Sports Minister Bernie Bush told the Compass in an interview days before the PanAm games that he will not financially assist those who prevent Caymanians from progressing for what he believes are personal motives.
“When I see these types of things going on, you are not going to get a five cent from me.”
“They didn’t pick Nathaniel,” Bush said. “How can you not pick one of your top two cyclists in the country? It must be personal. I cannot interfere, but don’t come and ask me for any funds, because when I see these types of things going on, you are not going to get a five cent from me.”
Olympian disappointment
Another person who voiced their public disapproval of the way Forbes had been treated is three-time Cayman Olympian Ronald Forbes, who is Nathaniel’s cousin.
“Through my experience, sport is the most even playing field whereby it is free from discrimination, sexism, favoritism, idolization and prejudice (at least it’s supposed to be),” he wrote on his Facebook page.
He added, “Yet, somehow, administrative boards find a way to add these elements into their decision-making systems and, as a result, completely disregard an athlete’s sacrifice and ultimately disenfranchise the athlete out of chances that only come around once in a lifetime. These behaviors and practices have to cease and become deceased.”
Caymanian cyclist and Olympian Craig Merren is also among those supporting Nathaniel Forbes.
Greener pastures?
Forbes is now heading to Europe after securing a top position on an Under-23 international development cycling team based in Portugal.
He will join the team this month for the road-racing circuit in Europe, which is expected to include a series of events, in particular, the U23 cycling tour of Portugal, Volta a Portugal do Futuro, in June. He will be racing with the Continental U-23 pro teams in this event.
It’s the second time that Forbes has received recognition from an elite international team, the other being the Caribbean AVR Racing Team, which he represented earlier this year at the three-day Jamaican International Cycling Classic and placed 10th overall – the highest of any Cayman rider during that event.
While Forbes missed out on gaining points during the Pan American Games, which would have helped him to qualify for the UCI Cycling World Championships being held in Glasgow, Scotland, in August, and for selection into professional teams, past cycling Olympians, local private sponsors, the Cayman Islands Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Sports all offered assistance for his move to Europe.
-
Editor’s note: This story has been amended to clarify that Nathaniel Forbes was not part of the team that competed in last month’s Pan American Cycling Championships in Panama City.
Related Videos
