Winning the award will be a bonus: Moolman Pasio

Moolman Pasio was nominated for the top award, where she faced competition from javelin thrower Sunette Viljoen and Commonwealth Games wrestling medallist Mpho Madi.

“It’s a huge honour to be nominated for the award and I’m really happy to be among the nominees. Winning the award will be a great bonus after the wonderful season I’ve had,” Moolman Pasio said on Wednesday.

“It’s always great to be recognised for your hard work.

“I didn’t know Mpho until I saw the nominations and I look forward to meeting them on the evening of the event.”

The African Continental Champion made her first Commonwealth games appearance at this year’s Glasgow games where she put in a good performance to take bronze in the women’s road race.

She then headed the SA elite women’s team at last month’s UCI Road World Championships, where she finished in the top 20 of the women’s road race.

“The Commonwealth games were a massive highlight for me.

“They were my first games, after I failed to compete at the 2010 Delhi games due to a collarbone injury.

“The experience was wonderful and it really boosted my confidence ahead of the Rio Olympics.”

Moolman Pasio, had just completed her European cycling season where she competed under Norway’s Team Hitec Products.

She recently joined the Swiss based Bigla Cycling team for the 2015/2016 season and said she looked to continue honing her skills ahead of the 2016 Rio Olympics, where she hoped to produce a medal winning performance.

At the 2012 London Olympics, she finished 16th in the Women’s road race and 24th in the Women’s time trial.

“After the London Olympic games I realised that it takes a long process of planning and training to achieve great results for such an event.

“The next two years are very critical for my build up to the 2016 Olympics and being based in Europe over the past few years has been a huge advantage for me.

“The week to week racing there is very challenging and has taught me a lot. I just hope to keep improving on my performance before taking on the world’s best at the Olympics.”

– Sapa