SASCOC (South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee) has announced the 169-member team that will be competing in the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia in April. Team South Africa sees representation across 16 sporting codes, with 18 team members representing cycling.
Road:
Women — Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (TT)
Men — Willie Smit, Nicholas Dlamini, Clint Hendricks and Brendon Davids (RR & TT)
Track:
Women — Charlene du Preez, Elfriede Wolfaardt, Ilze Bole, Danielle van Niekerk and Adelia Neethling (Team Pursuit)
Men — Steven van Heerden, Nolan Hoffman, David Maree, Joshua van Wyk and Gert Fouchè (Team Pursuit)
Mountain biking:
Women — Mariske Strauss and Cherie Redecker
Men — Alan Hatherly
Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio will compete in the Time Trial only, while Nicholas Dlamini, Clint Hendricks and Brendon Davids will compete in the Road Races, with Dlamini to compete in the Time Trial as well. Since the announcement, Willie Smit has withdrawn from the team. At the time of going to press, a replacement rider had not yet been approved by SASCOC. The Track Team Pursuit for women include Charlene du Preez, Elfriede Wolfaardt, Ilze Bole, Danielle van Niekerk and Adelia Neethling, with Steven van Heerden, Nolan Hoffmann, David Maree, Joshua van Wyk and Gert Fouchè making up the men’s team. Some of these riders will also compete in the individual endurance events. Mariske Strauss and Cherie Redecker head up the women’s MTB XCO and Alan Hatherly will compete in the men’s race.
Although the women’s Road Race team and the men’s and women’s Team Sprint teams met the selection criteria and were submitted to SASCOC for consideration, they did not make the final team SA selection.
There was great excitement from the riders selected as part of Team South Africa, many for their first time at the Commonwealth Games. Nolan Hoffman was “chuffed” to be part of the team as it was a big goal for him; Brendon Davids said it was a huge surprise to hear the news; Alan Hatherly and Mariske Strauss both acknowledged that it was a step closer to achieving their goals.
Cycling South Africa’s President William Newman congratulated the riders who were selected for team South Africa. “To be selected to represent your country is a great honour, particularly at a sporting event with the magnitude of the Commonwealth Games, and the cyclists selected here have been performing exceptionally well in recent months. While I am very happy with the large cycling contingent selected I also want to encourage those who have not made the final selection to stay motivated and continue working hard at their sport.
“On behalf of the Executive and Management Committees, we wish the team the best of luck with their preparations in the coming months and in Australia.”
