Bronze medallist Anita Zenani with Velokhaya BMXing captain Wanga Moshani (left) and team coach Thembinkosi Sosiba in Durban. Photo supplied.
30 October 2014
Anita Zenani, the only girl in the four-member BMX team from Velokhaya Cycling Club from Khayelitsha, brought back a bronze medal from the African and South African championships held last weekend.
Zenani, 16, said, “Even though I was competing in a division higher than mine I did very well. In the South African champs I managed to get fourth spot while in the African champs I came third and won a bronze medal.”
“By the time I get to be in the division I want to race in, this experience will help me claim that number one spot. I just need to work very hard now for the championships next year.”
Bayanda Ganyaza, 16, who had bruises to show for his efforts, said: “I qualified for the SA champs final, having come number one in my heat, but my bike broke and I couldn’t catch up to the rest in the finals.
“In the African champs I fell when two riders hit my bike and couldn’t finish the race.”
Team captain Wanga Moshani, 16, who was racing in the same division as Ganyaza said, “I did not qualify for the SA champs finals because I messed up my start, and in the African champs we were both targets of other riders and they succeeded in ending our race before we finished.”
Moshani said, “I learnt that I must work well with my team mate because we couldn’t execute our strategy which was to protect each other so one of us could win the race.”
Coach Thembinkosi Sosiba was happy with how his team did despite these problems.
“My team was hot,” said coach Sosiba. “I’m happy with their performance. The teams they faced have better resources, but we put up a good fight.”