BMX champs a stepping stone to Olympics qualification
National BMX champs in Alberton will provide a stepping stone for a local rider to secure 2016 Olympic games qualification.
SA BMX Commissions’high performance coach believes the national championships this Sunday in Alberton will provide a stepping stone for a local rider to secure 2016 Olympic games qualification.
Coach, Jonathan Chislett, explains that much of his focus is on next year’s World championships in Medellin Columbia. Despite that, he claims this year’s nationals will provide an excellent foundation for the African Continental Championships.
Chislett said the SA nationals could earn their top rider 16 points, which bodes well in terms of Olympic qualification, however the Continental championships in Zimbabwe was a “huge points race,” with the winner likely to earn up to 120 points.
“120 points would go a really long way when it comes to qualifying for the Olympics,” he said.
South Africa must do exceptionally well in next weekend’s nationals and the upcoming African championships, as there is not much hope for SA riders to earn UCI points outside these events. The team must also perform strongly in next year’s Worlds as, “ Worlds will be our biggest race leading to the Olympics. Our riders need to take part in a quarter-final or better at Worlds to qualify for the Olympics,” he stressed.
Chislett confirmed that realistically, only one spot for a South African rider will be available if qualification for the Olympics is successful. “Our elite pool of riders on our high Performance team is very small. There are only three elite riders- Kyle Dodd, Alex Limberg and Godfrey Buziba.”
Despite the fact that at most there will probably be one SA rider at next year’s Olympics, Chislett believes that there will be an abundance of SA riders in the 2020 Olympics, due to their “ten rider strong high performance team, as well as the abundance of youth coming through the ranks and taking cycling seriously.
