Colorado Champions: Paralympian rides for gold in Tokyo

Training as an elite athlete is no easy feat, and with less than a year until the 2020 Tokyo Games, Mohamed Lahna is in serious training mode.

Mo, as he likes to be called, was born in Morocco but is now part of the Paralympic Cycling team. One of his favorite places to get a workout in is along Gold Camp Road in Colorado Springs.

“We are doing the work and I always remember that other athletes are working hard and I don’t take anything for granted and need to work hard and keep focused,” says Lahna.

Mo spent his childhood working harder than most and using that focus to his advantage, because he wasn’t like everyone else. He was born with a birth defect, missing part of his right hip and the femur from his right leg. But he still has a right foot.

“Now with time, I say it’s good to be different,” says Lahna. “My mom had a big influence on that because every time kids would say bad stuff to me I would go home crying, but my mom would send me back, and I think that over time just built that strength for me.”

When Mo turned 21, he got his first prosthetic leg and then found his love for cycling and para-triathlon.

“It’s like freedom all of a sudden because I was able to go around the block and go to other places,” says Lahna.

Mo turned out to be really good. He moved up the ranks and won the 2016 Paralympic bronze medal for Morocco.

“I had never been to the Paralympics before, I don’t know how to describe it, but nothing could stop me to go to my goal and I just couldn’t see anything else but Rio,” says Lahna.

Since then, Mo set his sights on gold in Tokyo. And for the first time, he’s sporting red, white and blue. He also moved to Colorado Springs to train at the renowned U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Center.

But then he hit a major speed bump. A few months ago, his sport was pulled from the games.

He’s not letting that derail him. Instead, it’s motivating him to win big in the para-cycling event.

“I think we learn this from sport, from the discipline of training to reach a goal because when we train for an event we train hard for it, and we get the reward and result that we want, and we build upon that so it’s something we build over time,” says Lahna. “I think sport and racing at an elite level built that strength and that routine and discipline.”

All the change hasn’t been easy, but Mo is taking it one stride at a time, pedaling his way to Tokyo.

Mo will race in December for a spot on the Paralympic cycling team. You can bet we’ll follow him, and let you know how he does.

Do you have someone you know that is a Colorado Champion? Email brynn.carman@krdo.com.