Cycling South Africa congratulates Lise Olivier on her election to the post of Cycling SA Women’s Commission Director.
Olivier has represented South Africa at the World Championship in 2012, the African Continental Champs in 2010 and 2012, All African Games in 2011, and most recently at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. She has been cycling since 2008, and has been racing competitively since 2010.
Olivier competed as a full-time athlete for three years, from 2010 through 2012, with Team Bizhub and Team MTN-Qhubeka, and also spent half the year racing for the Lotto Belisol Team in Europe in 2012. With a full-time job now, Olivier also manages the Time Freight VELOlife women’s team, with whom she currently races as well.
Along with ensuring that there is a focus on the development of women in our sport in South Africa, Olivier’s passion and motivation will also see her help to grow the sport back to even greater heights. The new Women’s Commission will assist her in realising her goals and vision.
“Internationally, women’s cycling has made rapid progress during this past year,” said Olivier. “La Course at Le Tour being just one of them. With the enthusiasm around women’s cycling growing internationally, it opens doors for us locally as well. The focus is now on solutions rather than the problems. This is why it is such an exciting time to be part of women’s cycling as the opportunities are endless.
Vision for the Women’s Commission
- Within women’s cycling people are enthusiastic about our sport and we need to convey that message through to the rest of the cycling community as well as the general public.
- Together with Cycling SA we would like to develop on a road map for young riders, build National Team selection criteria and implement a strategy for sustainable growth and development. There will be a big focus on finding a way to look after our riders for big goal events such as 2016/2020 Olympic Games, World Championship events and other international competitions.
- We need to grow the number of women on bikes to ensure sustainable change. This will involve creative initiatives geared towards the recreational level cyclist all the way through to the professional rider.
- When combining performance, elegance and athleticism of the female cyclist there are huge potential to attract corporate sponsors. We are hoping to assist CSA in finding such sponsors through which we can drive initiatives such as these:
- National team program in Europe to ensure international racing opportunities for our riders
- Annual UCI women’s stage race in South Africa
- Mentorship and development programs for young and previously disadvantaged riders
- Training camps for women lead by National Team members
ENDS
