Tour d'Armin - Armin Köhli


armin@tourdarmin.ch Armin Köhli is 38 years old. He works as Foreign Editor of the weekly magazine "WOZ" in Zurich. Both his lower limbs are amputated. He already enjoyed success at the following handicapped sport events:

–	Road and Time-Trial Swiss Championship, from 1997 - 2003: Gold (twice), Silver (five times) and Bronze (twice)

–	European championships 1999 Blois: Bronze medal in the road race, twice fourth, once fifth

–	Para-Olympics 2000 Sydney: 5th place in the road race

–	Victory in the race in Vassivière (F), Mably (F), Mulhouse, Frankfurt a.M.

Long-distance and ultra-distance races for the non-handicapped are his speciality:

–	2001: 1st place Many Hill Show, Zurich (209 Kilometre)

–	2002: Finisher Bern-Bodensee-Bern, 614 Kilometre in 30 hours 9 Minutes

–	2003: Finisher Bern-Bodensee-Bern, 609 Kilometre in 26 hours 14 Minutes

Interview with Armin Köhli two months before the start of the Tour d'Afrique

Question: How are you training at present?
Armin Köhli: I just returned from a break. Last week I began with body training. It means, on an average I sit one and a half hours on the saddle every day. Followed by stamina training and peak loads. I will take another week's break at the end of December. And before I fly to Cairo for the start of the race, I will again train in peak loads.

Do you have a coach?
No. However, I discussed the training structure with my former trainer. I wanted to protect myself and avoid conceptual mistakes. I do not train in kilometres covered; rather I train in time and pulse frequency. Unfortunately, I must gulp down extra protein to prevent the muscle mass from decreasing during endurance training.

Do you train only on the bicycle?
I do everything on the bike, even power training. At home, I have a roller to mount my bike.

Do you enjoy this intensive training?
Yes. Much has become a routine. I sing when I am riding in the rain. I can no longer envisage my life without a bicycle. It would be bad for me.

Do you have a favourite route?
I do not really have a favourite route. I constantly need to try out new routes to avoid monotony. In my training area of 60 kilometres around the city of Zurich, I always find new paths and streets. However, I always know where I am. And I often know in a minute, how much longer I will take.

During the Tour d'Afrique, you will face various kinds of road surfaces: tar, fields, sand. How are you preparing for that?
I am not afraid of Egypt. The start of the race is on tar road, like here. Then the roads will gradually become bad: However, we will mostly ride on tracks that have been used by trucks. I cannot really prepare for the different surfaces. My physical condition is more important. Therefore, it is preferable to train my body well.

How are the other participants training?
I do not know. And it would be of no help to me either, if I knew. I know my body well and I know how I need to train it.

Have the organisers of the Tour d'Afrique stipulated any minimum conditions for participants?
No. One would just need to be fit.

Since when have you been participating in bicycle sport for handicapped persons?
Since nine years. This is the tenth season.

How did this passion start?
I spent July 1995 in front of the television and watched the Tour de France. And I was indeed scared of becoming fat and lazy. So, I bought an old racing bike for 100 Swiss Francs and took off. After a short while, as a handicapped person, I overtook non-handicapped bikers on the mountain. Soon I started participating in bicycle races for the handicapped. Success!

Did you always pursue sports alone?
In summer, I like waking up at 5:30 and jumping onto my bike. Or swing onto the saddle during the day. I can ride a bike whenever I want to. I do not have to be at the fitness club at 7:30 every Wednesday evening.

Biking is indeed a team sport
For the handicapped, it is not a team sport. And still less for ultra-distance racing, at least the way I do it.

How is it that you do ultra-distance racing?
I do not like track racing. I did not want to work the entire time at my position looking for the perfect solid wheel. I prefer road racing. And I have won a few too. But you need to travel about a lot too, which is expensive. I prefer long races. I am always curious to know how long it will take until I fall off the saddle (laughs).

Is ultra-distance racing an independent racing category?
Not really. There are bike-marathons: They have a racing track of over 200 kilometres. The ultra-distance races that I rode at are around 600 kilometres that one rides in one stretch.

You also participated in the Para-Olympics 2000 in Sydney
I fulfilled the qualifications and was selected by the Handicapped Sports Association and the Para-Olympics Committee. I came in fifth, for me it was a top result. Maybe I was already a bit tired at the end of October, otherwise I might have even won a medal.

Various people with different handicaps participate in handicapped sport. Can the performance in a race be compared at all?
In handicapped sports, one differentiates between "standing" and "wheelchair". Bike racing is per se "standing". Moreover, there are sub-categories depending on the number of limbs that you miss. The whole thing is very complex and a perpetual discussion among sportspersons. In my opinion, the division is reasonably correct, as far as possible. But there are too many categories. The sports associations are working on making things more clear.

Do you train differently from a "normal" bike racer?
In principle, my training is not different from that of a non-handicapped racer. But I have more friction surface, my stumps can change. This is what I fear in Africa: If one of my stumps does not fit in the prosthesis, then I have a problem.

What would you do if something like that happened?
My orthopaedist will teach me how to handle the prosthesis independently. Together, we will also manufacture a prosthesis so that I know in detail the build of my prosthesis. In this way, I would be in a position to repair or adjust my prosthesis in Africa during an emergency.

You bike-race in your spare time. But you are primarily a journalist with the weekly, WOZ. How did that happen?
While I was active in the youth movement at the beginning of the eighties, I founded an autonomous school with friends. This is how I finished my A-levels. Thereafter, at the Swiss Student Travel Service (SSR), I produced and sold tours. In between, I visited Syria twice to learn Arabic. I also worked as program coordinator at Radio Lora. Later I got into a beverages association, where I handled administration and sales. During this period, I started writing reports from the Arabic countries for the WOZ.

How did your interest for the Arabic region develop?
In 1985, by chance I was offered a ticket for a ferry ride to Tunisia. I travelled to Tunisia and Algeria and could never understand what the local population spoke. I decided never to travel to a country whose language I did not speak. Naturally, I could never manage that, but at least I learned Arabic.

What draws you now to Africa?
Both: Africa and the bicycle race, the sporty aspect and the countryside, the people on this continent.

How did you know about the race?
In January 2003, I read about it in a bicycle magazine. Then I visited the Internet site. First, I thought that I would not be able to do it. Then, beginning of July 2003, I decided to participate in the race.

Are you the first handicapped person to participate in this race?
Last year, a blind man travelled to Kenya on a tandem. He lost his eyesight during a bombing in 1998 at the US Embassy in Nairobi.

Does Africa have sports for handicapped persons?
Only marginally because they lack money. In 1999, I visited a project for handicapped sportspersons in Chad. At the time, the African handicapped sports contests were held and participants from Chad could not attend for lack of financial support.

What do you expect from this race with regard to the sport?
I would like to ride into Cape Town feeling healthy. I have no ambitions to come first. The chances that I reach are good. Although I do not know what all could happen on the way.

What would be the risks during the race?
The biggest risks would be diarrhoea and stomach problems. Sunstrokes, malaria and infections are also a risk. I have the greatest respect for difficult areas which I cannot pass on the bike. There I must climb down and push the bicycle. With my prosthesis, I would be able to advance on foot for a few kilometres only.

What about dangers of criminals or war?
The more dangerous problem is the traffic. Last year, there was a road accident. The injured person had to quit the race. We are a big group, travelling sometimes even within a large convoy which of course will create great curiosity among the local population. This hopefully will offer protection. We are not travelling through war zones.

You said you will create a sensation. What will be the reaction of the local population?
I expect it to be positive. We are certainly a big and unusual event. And as amputee fitted with a high-tech prosthesis, naturally people will stare at me more.

Will you show your prosthesis?
When I am on the bicycle, observers will see my prosthesis. They will immediately understand that one participant is riding a bicycle with prosthesis. This is unusual, even more in Africa. In many African countries, handicapped persons are hidden in society. Perhaps my participation will help highlight and promote handicapped sport in Africa.

With your participation, you also want to support the fight against landmines
The biggest part of amputations in the third world is due to mine accidents. I would like to make myself useful for these mine victims, who often are handicapped like me. However, I would also like to do something for the prevention of such mine victims in the first place. That is why I support mine clearance projects as well as the political lobbying against land mines and pollution by unexploded ordnance.

Can the public support this fight against land mines through you?
I have set up a donor account. Private persons or companies can for example donate a certain amount for every kilometre that I run. If I manage to reach Cape Town, that would be about 10,000 kilometres. If somebody offers 1 centime for a kilometre, this makes a 100 Francs contribution for the struggle against landmines.

Whom will you support with this money?
A part of the money goes to the FSD (Swiss foundation for mine action) in Geneva, which undertakes mine clearing projects in Africa, Asia and East Europe. The other part of the money goes to the Geneva Call, the worldwide only organisation which is negotiating a mine ban with rebel groups and other non-state actors (the Ottawa Conventions have been signed by governments only).

Armin Köhli participating at the Paralympics 2000 in Sydney