Namibian cyclists continue to shine on the world stage after Vera Looser and Hugo Hahn produced stunning performances abroad over the past weekend.
Looser, competing against the world's best mountainbike marathon riders at the UCI Marathon World Cup in Liguria, Italy on Sunday, came third to win the bronze medal, while Hahn came sixth at the African Continental Championships in Johannesburg, South Africa to virtually make sure of clinching a spot for Namibia at the 2024 Olympic Games.
Competing on an arduous 100km course with a steep climb of 4 000m, Looser excelled to finish third out of 37 riders representing 15 nations.
Adelheid Morath of Germany won the race in five hours 55 minutes 31 seconds, while Lejla Njemcevic of Bosnia Herzegovina came second nearly four minutes behind in 5:59:23. Looser clinched the bronze medal in 6:00:03, after beating Estelle Morel of France in a sprint to the line.
It was a stunning result which now puts her amongst the world's top 10 female marathon riders according to national coach Hans du Toit.
"It's a massive result and I'm so proud that Namibia now has someone amongst the world's top riders. With that performance she has now moved into the top 10 in the world rankings," he said.
Hahn, meanwhile, finished sixth in the elite men's category at the African Continental MTB Cross Country Championships at Thaba Trails in Johannesburg on Saturday to virtually seal Namibia a ticket for the Paris Olympics.
South African riders dominated the race, taking the first five places, with Philip Buys winning gold in 1:28:28, Johan van Zyl silver in 1:29:50 and Jaedon Terlouw bronze in 1:30:49.
They were followed by Jan Withaar (1:30:50) and Jordan Boshoff (1:32:21), while Hahn came sixth in 1:32:53.
Du Toit explained the qualification system for the Olympics.
"The first 17 countries will qualify via their world rankings and South Africa are now 10th so they will definitely qualify via that route. The first country at the African championships that has not qualified via the world ranking qualification, will also qualify for the Olympics, so basically it came down to which country came second behind South Africa," he said, adding that the qualifiers still have to be ratified by the UCI.
Hahn's performance was all the more remarkable, considering the pressure he was under to deliver after Namibia's top rider Alex Miller picked up flu and a stomach bug and had to miss the race. Miller would have been a strong contender for a gold medal after he previously beat Buys at a UCI race in Windhoek on 29 April, but in his absence Hahn gave a great performance to keep Namibia's Olympic hopes alive.
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"Hugo is actually still under 23, but Iasked him to competein the elite category to improve our chances of qualifying for the Olympics, and after Alex got sick all the pressure was on Hugo's shoulders to beat the other African countries," Du Toit said.
"He would have definitely got a podium place in the u23 category so this was a big sacrifice for his country, but he had a great race and it also shows how much he has improved over the past year. At last year's Commonwealth Games he finished along with riders from Lesotho and Mauritius, but now he finished six minutes ahead of them," he added.
Hahn's younger brother Daniel also excelled in the junior men's race, winning a bronze medal in 1:01:31, while South Africa's Ernest Roets won gold in 59:31 and compatriot Massimiliano Ambrosi silver in 1:00:04.
Namibia's Kevin Lowe came sixth in 1:03:01, while Theuns van der Westhuizen came 11th in 1:06,59.
Du Toit said the battle to represent Namibia at the 2024 Olympics will be very intense.
"Daniel and Kevin will be moving up from the juniors to the u23 category next year, so they will battle it out with Alex and Hugo for the Olympic spot," he said.
