{"id":55844,"date":"2025-10-04T22:17:33","date_gmt":"2025-10-04T22:17:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/rwandan-woman-names-newborn-after-uci-race\/"},"modified":"2025-10-04T22:18:51","modified_gmt":"2025-10-04T22:18:51","slug":"rwandan-woman-names-newborn-after-uci-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/rwandan-woman-names-newborn-after-uci-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Rwandan woman names newborn after UCI race"},"content":{"rendered":"

For some spectators like Gentille Abimpaye, who found the official name of the event a bit long, simply calling it \u201cUCI\u201d was enough while they enjoyed the thrilling competition that turned Kigali\u2019s clean streets into a celebration.<\/p>\n

On September 27, fans witnessed the women\u2019s under-19 and elite women\u2019s races. That day, late-term pregnant Abimpaye, had gone to watch the finish line at the Kigali Convention Centre in Kimihurura.<\/p>\n

By early afternoon, labor pains started. An ambulance quickly rushed her to Kacyiru Hospital, where she received immediate medical care.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t have health insurance, I didn\u2019t have anything with me, but they welcomed me and didn\u2019t turn me away. They helped me so much. I am truly grateful! They assisted me through labor, and I gave birth to a baby girl at around 11 p.m. I had no clothes for the baby, but they provided them instantly. I had no food or porridge, but they took care of me and did everything possible,\u201d Abimpaye said.<\/p>\n

The championship \u2014 the first of its kind ever held in Rwanda and Africa \u2014 thrilled many Rwandans who followed it closely. For Abimpaye, the experience was extraordinary because she witnessed the athletes sprinting to the finish line at KCC just hours before giving birth.<\/p>\n

Since labor began while she was cheering for the cyclists and delivered on the same day, she decided to name her daughter Ange UCI Noella, a name she says will forever remind her of the historic competition in Kigali. <\/p>\n

\u201cI named her \u2018UCI\u2019 because I was cheering for the last cyclist coming in; I raised my hands like everyone else, but when I tried to lower and lift them again, I felt labor starting. I was rushed to the hospital and gave birth before midnight, still on the same day. This will always remind me that my daughter was born during the World Road Cycling Championships,\u201d she explained. <\/p>\n

Her husband, Ildephonse Ntarwimo, praised Kacyiru Hospital\u2019s management for helping his wife despite her lacking the usual documentation required for maternity admission.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe owe everything to the good leadership of His Excellency the President of the Republic. Without it, such quality healthcare services would not be possible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the experience, Abimpaye admitted she made a mistake by not carrying essential items in case labor started unexpectedly, even though she knew her due date was near. She advised expectant mothers to always be prepared.<\/p>\n

\"Abimpaye<\/figure>\n
\"Abimpaye<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From September 21 to 28, 2025, the City of Kigali hosted the UCI Road World Championships, organized by Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), world governing body of cycling. It was a festive week for many residents, who followed the races from start to finish.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":2000095579,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[75],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-55844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-homenews","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000095579,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/gentille-561ae.png","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/png","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/gentille-561ae.png","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/gentille-561ae.png","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/gentille-561ae.png","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/gentille-561ae.png","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/gentille-561ae.png","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55844\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000095579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55844"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=55844"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=55844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}