He carried the hopes of a host nation into the recent world BMX racing championships and rode out the pressure to win a medal. Next up? He’ll give you the one-race-at-a-time line. All we’ll say is London 2012.
Not everyone likes Sifiso Nhlapo. He calls them The Few and The Few say that he has too much luck and not enough guts. The Few are a small fraternity in the South African BMX scene who resent what Sifiso Nhlapo has become. They are quick to bring up his crash in the 2008 Beijing Olympic final as a ‘choke’, or to ascribe his more-than-impressive tally of international podiums to good fortune.
“Jealous” says Nhlapo. “That’s the bottom line. They’re in it for themselves, not the sport.”
It’s a chirp from a guy who’s genuinely frustrated with the way things are in a sport that’s always been the runt of South African cycling. The irony is that these detractors are often parents, and without their involvement there would be no administrators, and therefore no junior competitive structure. Skizo, as Nhlapo is known, could not have come through the ranks if those ranks had not been there to come through.
And with no Skizo, there’d be no 2005 Junior Elite Cruiser World Title – in his matric year – or 2008 World Championships bronze medal or no representation at the 2008 Olympics final for South Africa. No one is more aware of this fact than Nhlapo himself, and it drives his passion for growing BMX racing in South Africa.
He speaks about ‘giving back’ and ‘grassroots development’ with the sage wisdom of a 50-year-old veteran, not a 23-year-old elite racer coming into the prime of his professional career. But in tandem with playing the long game, Nhlapo has to make short-term gains of his own to maintain his standing on the world stage. It is here, on tracks of manicured, ramped and bermed earth, that he prefers to let his performances do the talking.
For the full story pick up the September Red Bulletin Magazine.
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