Namibia’s junior cyclists excelled at the Africa Mountain Bike Championships in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, over the weekend, winning numerous medals.
The Thiel siblings, Marco and Rosemarie, led the way with two gold medals each, while Namibian cyclists won a total of eight gold medals.
In the short track race on Saturday, Namibia swept the first four places in the junior boys’ category.
Marco won the gold medal in 12 minutes 43 seconds, while Christiaan van der Westhuizen won the silver medal, three seconds behind, and Sean Lowe the bronze medal in 12:59.
Compatriot Mike Baartman came fourth in 13:57.
Rosemarie comfortably won the junior women’s short track race in 16:32, finishing three minutes ahead of Margret Ngoma of Zambia, while Dehi Ornella of the Ivory Coast won the bronze medal.
In the cross country MTB race on Sunday, Namibia once again made a clean sweep in the junior men’s category, taking the first four places.
Marco won the gold medal in 58 minutes 36 seconds, while Lowe won silver in 59:07 and Van der Westhuizen bronze in 1:00:07. Baartman once again came fourth in 1:02:04.
Rosemarie won her second gold medal at the championships in a time of 59:24, finishing more than eight minutes ahead of Zambia’s Ngoma.
South Africa did not enter junior teams for the African Championships, but they dominated the men’s elite category, taking the first four places.
Luke Moir won gold in 1:11:35, Michael Foster won silver in 1:11:43, Luca Ruwiel won bronze in 1:12:37, and Johan van Zyl came fourth in 1:13:51.
Stacey Hislop of Zimbabwe won the women’s elite race on Sunday in 1:18:17, with Aurelie Halbwachs of Mauritius winning silver in 1:23:16 and Sunday Samuel of Nigeria bronze in 1:29:07.
Namibian team coach Hans du Toit says it was a great performance in very difficult conditions.
“We had a very good weekend. Unfortunately, South Africa didn’t compete in the junior categories, but our riders really performed well under extreme conditions. I know when you get to the middle of Africa it’s very hot and humid but this was at a completely different level and a few of the riders collapsed on the track and were not able to finish the race,” he says.
“It was a great performance by the Namibian team, they really gelled well here in the Ivory Coast and the results were just incredible. I’m really happy for them because they put in a lot of hard work for these championships. The Thiel siblings were great, and I think it’s also the first time ever that a Namibian team cleaned up a podium at the Africa Championships, so the morale is high and we are looking forward to the rest of the year,” he adds.
Du Toit says Namibia’s junior cyclists will compete at the South African XCO Cup series, which also forms part of the Junior World Series, at Cascades MTB Park in Pietermaritzburg on 27-28 June.
“We will go and compete at Cascades MTB Park at the end of June, while some of these cyclists could possibly also qualify for the world championships in Italy later this year,” he says.
