Cape Town - A team of 17 has been selected to wear the green and gold of South Africa at the UCI BMX World Championships in Belgium.
Of that team five are senior elite and one junior elite.
Stalwart Teagan O’Keeffe is the sole elite woman while Youth Olympian Alex LImberg, Godfrey Buziba, Themba Hlope and Kyle Dodd are the elite men.
Dodd faces a race against time to make the event in Heusden-Zolder as he recovers from a broken wrist.
The only junior elite woman is LImberg’s fellow Youth Olympian Maia Rawlins.
There’s still one competition before World Championships and that’s legs four, five and six of the National Age Group Series (NAG) on home turf in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal on 4-5 July.
It’s doubtful that all of the team named will in fact travel to Belgium as funding is extremely limited and concentrated on the elite riders.
An interesting fact about the 380-metre track is that’s situated on the former Formula 1 track, Circuit Zolder and it’s three corners have been named after the fastest women BMXers in the world.?
According to information on the UCI website ‘riders will tackle the first corner, the Buchanan Bend, named after Australian rider and World Champion in 2012 and 2013 Caroline Buchanan.
‘Once past the pro-section, the 2nd corner awaits, the Pajon Curva, named after Colombia’s Mariana Pajon, reigning Olympic Champion and World Champion.
Before the last straight is the 3rd corner or Post Corner; this is named after American rider Alise Post 2nd at the 2012 and 2014 World Championships and 1st Pro Elite Women USABMX 2014.’
The full team for Belgium (category in brackets) is:
Alex Dolman (15 Boys), Alex Limberg (Elite M), Brandon Pratt (17-24 or Junior Men), Connor Terblanche (13 Boys), Dylan Eggar (16 Boys), Godfrey Buziba (Elite M), Kane Herbert (Cruiser 25-29 Men, or 20” 25-29 Men), Kaylin Smith (11 Girls), Kita Uys (10 Girls), Lauren Coetzee (16 Girls), Maia Rawlins (Junior Elite W), Manqoba Madida (16 Boys, Themba Hlophe (Elite M), Tyrone Johns (Cruiser 30-and-over Men, or 20” 30-and-over Men), William Jackson (Cruiser 45-and-over Men), Kyle Dodd (Elite M), Teagan O’Keeffe (Elite W)