A memorial to cyclist Amine Britel has been created on San Joaquin Hills Road, near where he was struck and killed by a car. Photo by Charles Weinberg
Amine Britel, 41, of Newport Coast died died after being struck by a car while riding his bike on San Joaquin Hills Road, just west of Newport Ridge Drive West.
According to Wafin, the website for Moroccan connections in America, Britel was an avid athlete, a Harvard alum and an entrepreneur.
Britel, a native Moroccan, had a passion for sports early on in life. He was the youngest male to earn his first degree in equestrian jumping at age 9. By 17, he became a member of the Moroccan National Junior Team in sprint distances.
He found a program through the National Institute of Sports and Physical Education in Paris (INSEP) that allowed him focus on studies while still training hard. There, he earned his baccalaureate diploma and graduated with honors.
After passing several academic tests, achieving high marks in track and learning English, Britel was offered an athletic scholarship to the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in economics.
After graduation, Britel joined the International Management Group, a sports marketing and management company.
The following year, he was accepted into the Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration. During is second year at Harvard, he was appointed as president of the Middle East and North Africa Club. While there, he organized and led a group of over 100 MBA students to Morocco during spring break. The trip inspired him to start his own company for American tourism in Morocco. After working for a short period at JP Morgan Chase & Co., as a member of their Global Investment Group, Gateway2Morocco was born. In August, 2001, www.gateway2morocco.com was ranked as the premier travel information site by Expedia Travels. In 2004, Britel expanded the business globally, launching Gateway2Discovery.
Britel participated in the 2004 Olympic Games triathlons and has competed in many other triathlons.
Britel told Wafin about his journey through life, “”I followed my heart, listened to my instincts and believed in my dream in the face of many hardships, especially the pursuit of excellence in both education and sports. And in the end, it was the passion and drive for sports, the incredible hunger to be a champion that laid the path to a successful educational and professional career.”
