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Brandon Moyo, [email protected]

ZIMBABWE is set to host the 2023 African BMX Championships which are scheduled to take place in November.

The host city for the continental showpiece is yet to be finalised as the national association is yet to decide. The tournament will also serve as qualifiers for the 2024 Olympics which will be held in Paris, France.

Zimbabwe signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the Confederation of African Cycling (CAC) AGM that was held in Nairobi, Kenya from on April 24 and 25. The event was graced by World president of Cycling (UCI) David Lappartient and CAC President, Mohamed Azzam.

The delegation from Zimbabwe was led by Cycling Zimbabwe president, Davis Muhambi, secretary general, Elsie Maumbe and technical director, Crosby Mashiri.

Muhambi believes that hosting the event will be good for the country as it will bring in exposure and an opportunity for riders.

“Hosting of the continentals does a lot for the country, in terms of the tourism, you get a lot of riders coming in, usually BMX riders are youth riders who travel with their families so it gives Zimbabwe the exposure that it needs in that regard.

“There are so many things that happen when you bring in a continental, you bring the exposure itself, if it was being held elsewhere you are limited in terms of numbers of people that you can expose to a continental level of riding but in this case the continent is coming to Zimbabwe, what that means is our riders who would otherwise not make it to other parts of the continent for this will get the exposure to see the level of riding that happens on the continent. Some of these riders are based in Europe and will come and compete for their countries so the exposure is big,” said Muhambi.

He added that hosting the tournament will also help in having large numbers of trainees as UCI usually hosts training courses for coaches, mechanics and commissars when building up to such championships.

“We need that pool of skills to develop the sport and to create a good product out of cycling in Zimbabwe will require commissars, who are like our referees for good governance on races, coaches for better athletes and mechanics to take care of the equipment, it really does a lot,” said Muhambi.

Hosting the event will also strengthen Zimbabwe’s position on the continent as a partner to, not only the continental body but also to the world body as such initiatives come with recognition.

Cycling Zimbabwe, for the first time, applied for a grant and was offered eight brand-new world-class road bikes which will come to support the national team, training equipment from WAU and also access to online platforms for training which will enhance the set skill for cycling in the country.

“These are the soft rewards that you get for supporting UCI initiatives, they also give back to you,” said Muhambi.

Last year, Zimbabwe hosted the African Continental Championships with Busters Cycle Park in Bulawayo being the venue for the event. Some of the athletes that took part were from Harare BMX Club, Bike Addicts and Busters BMX and Cycle Park and some from South Africa. — @brandon_malvin