![\"ccs-62657-0-88511100-1444036180.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-62657-0-88511100-1444036180.jpg\")
<\/a>Jonathan Chislett (centre) is looking forward to seeing his High Performance team – of which Kyle Dodd (left) and Alex Limberg (right) are members – tackle the upcoming SA National BMX Champs, the start of the 2016 Rio Olympics qualification process. Photo: Dave Mcleod \/ Gameplan Media.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cOur top placed rider at the upcoming SA Nationals could earn 16 points, which isn\u2019t going to go a long way in terms of qualifying for the Olympics,\u201d explained Chislett.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Continental Champs in Zimbabwe is however a huge points race with the winner there potentially earning up to 120 points and that would go a really long way when it comes to qualifying for the Olympics!\u201d\u2028\u2028<\/p>\n
There aren\u2019t many other opportunities on the horizon for South African riders to earn UCI points in the near future outside of next weekend\u2019s nationals and the upcoming African clash, heightening the importance of a strong showing at next year\u2019s Worlds.<\/p>\n
\u201cWorlds will be our biggest race leading into the Olympics!\u201d confirmed Chislett. \u201cOur riders need to take part in a quarter-final or better at Worlds to qualify for the Olympics.\u201d\u2028\u2028<\/p>\n
\u201cThere will also be three Supercross races \u2013 also big points races \u2013 before Worlds with riders who make it through to a quarter or semi-final there earning good points for our federation.\u201d\u2028\u2028<\/p>\n
While competing at the Olympics in Rio next year is likely to become a reality for only one South African rider, at best, Chislett is confident this may well change come the 2020 spectacle courtesy of Chislett\u2019s ten rider strong High Performance team.<\/p>\n
\u201cRealistically it will be impossible to qualify more than one spot for the Olympic Games in Rio, if we qualify.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur elite pool of riders on our High Performance team is very small; there are only three elite riders \u2013 Kyle Dodd, Alex Limberg and Godfrey Buziba \u2013 on that team.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter them we have a whole lot of up and coming junior riders though and we expect next year\u2019s juniors pool for Worlds to be up to as many as six riders.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be really great for us to work with a group of riders like that who could all go to Worlds and compete; the future looks good for BMX in South Africa, we just need to get through this phase now of a limited number of elite riders.\u201d\u2028\u2028<\/p>\n
The inclusion of BMX on the Olympic programme back in 2008 has also had a significant impact on the development of the sport in South Africa.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we\u2019ve noticed since being involved in high performance and the Olympics is that our younger riders are taking BMX way more seriously than our riders did in the past.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the past fifteen year olds had never done the correct BMX training but now we have seven year olds out there before going to school doing their sprint work, their speed work, they\u2019re in the gym doing their core work \u2013 all the things that are ideal for an athlete to develop fully as a rider.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you miss those certain windows of opportunity then it can be very difficult to transfer that into when you become an elite athlete.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe local BMX community\u2019s youngsters are now following what the likes of Kyle (Dodd) and Alex (Limberg) are doing in training, how the warm up and cool down, etc. and that is creating a far more professional environment for our sport and that will undoubtedly be good for our sport in the not too distant future!\u201d\u2028\u2028<\/p>\n
More information on the event can be found at: http:\/\/www.cyclingsa.com\/2015-sa-bmx-champs\/<\/a>, entry forms are available at https:\/\/csams.cyclingsa.com\/online-entries.aspx?eventid=4546<\/a> and Sunday’s action can be watched live via www.streamit360.tv<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The South African BMX Commission\u2019s High Performance coach Jonathan Chislett believes the upcoming South African National BMX Championships at Alrode BMX Club in Alberton, Gauteng on Sunday, 11 October will be a first key step in local riders\u2019 quest to secure 2016 Olympic Games qualification. Despite much of his charges\u2019 focus already being on next […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":46524,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2946,3472,2285,3473],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-19216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-alex-limberg","tag-jonathan-chislett","tag-kyle-dodd","tag-national-bmx-championships"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19216\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19216"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=19216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}