Track cyclists from Bromhof and Blairgowrie win medals at African champs
Track cyclists compete on a wooden track for the first time at African championships.
Two young, local track cyclists did South Africa proud at the Track Cycling African Championships in Egypt in early March.
Matthew Symm from Blairgowrie and Joshua Wentzel from Bromhof, both 16 years old, represented their country in Cairo and won medals galore.
“It was an honour and also very special, because we got to ride on a 250m wooden track – we do not have this kind of surface in South Africa,” explained Matthew.
“It was an amazing experience to be able to ride there. I also enjoyed meeting new people from other countries and I appreciated the Egyptian culture.”
For Joshua, the racing experience and friendships formed with cyclists from other countries will be forever cherished.
Both teenagers have competed locally, including at the SA Track Championships in Cape Town where there was a concrete track, but their international experience was limited before the continental championships.
Though, they had both been to Belgium to compete in road races.
“Probably the greatest challenge I had in the run-up to these championships was the training,” Matthew added.
“It was very hard indeed, but we went very well prepared and everything ran very smoothly, except for one incident where my chain broke on the start line, but fortunately, that was repaired by the SA team mechanic and all was well during the race.”
Within the greater squad, Matthew was in the team that won the group junior pursuit event while Joshua wasn’t.
But Joshua was in the team that won the group sprint event while Matthew was not in that group.
Personally, Matthew came first at the junior elimination race, second in the invidual pursuit, and finshed second in the Omnium (multiple events), while Joshua won silver for junior keirin and bronze for junior sprint.
“The South African Track Championships take place in April, and hopefully if that goes well, we will have the World Championships in Cuba,” Joshua said.
Matthew added, “I have also recently won third at the junior Emperors Palace Classic road race, which was over 98km, and I’m looking forward to the next racing season, both on the road and on the track.”
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