South African para cyclist Toni Mould’s name has been submitted for possible Olympic qualification and she is doing everything she can to realise her dream.
Toni Mould’s name has been submitted for possible Olympic qualification. Photo: Janine Fuchs
“I’m firstly still trying to wrap my head around the idea that my name was put forward. For six years people have been saying that I will not be selected due to me being in the T1 class which competes against the stronger T2 class, although times are factored in the time-trial.
“So just to have my name on the long list is an honour.
“Secondly, last week I was notified that I will be receiving Sascoc funding on the Opex [Operation Excellence] Special Support programme for the first time and it will cover the majority of my expenses for world cup and world champs.”
Mould added that there were only two slots for women and she felt it was extremely important that at least one slot was filled for various reasons.
“Firstly, it’s Paralympians before me like Roxy Burns and Justine Asher who got me into the sport and motivated me. I hope to do that for the next generation of female para cyclists.
“I don’t want to remain the only female in the team and I am afraid of the message we are sending to youngsters if SA doesn’t have a female para cyclist in Tokyo.
“Secondly, I find more and more slots/sports are being allocated to those with lesser disabilities, and I think it is important to remain true to the vision of the Paralympics when it was started and give those athletes with significant disabilities a chance to compete at the games.”
As she has not yet been named in the team, she is currently trying to plan for Tokyo should it happen, but not getting her hopes up too much.
“I believe that I have to stay focused on each step. There are two very important competitions before Tokyo – the world cup and world champs, and if I want to go to Tokyo I first need good performances in those races.
“So I want at least one personal best at those competitions and perhaps even a medal. Only then will I sit and decide what I want out of Tokyo, should I get there.
“Having said all that, there was once a little girl who loved sports and had no opportunity to participate in sport. She dreamt of being at the Paralympics.
“That little girl is now 36 years old and would love the opportunity to make the dream a reality. To be able to call myself a Paralympian for the rest of my life would be a tremendous honour.”
Mould also had a good but tough outing at the recent national road champs where she won the time-trial and road race in her category.
“I’m still the only women in either of the trike classes, so I received two gold medals, but overall I am a bit disappointed in my times. Personally this was the hardest SAs I have had in my six years of competing.
“I came into SAs wanting a good TT to secure my spot in the SA team for the world cup in May and world champs in June.
“If I still make the team I guess I’ve reached my goals, but personally I left champs wanting more from the racing.”
She added that although she was still the only woman in her category they had the biggest turnout of para cyclists they had had in years.
“We had 17 participants over nine classes. I find this very encouraging as after 2016 para cycling saw a drop in numbers due to people retiring after Rio and the self-funding policy.
“It was nice to see such a big group and so many classes being represented.”
Mould said she felt very motivated for her season ahead.
“My domestic season is now over and I can start focusing on my preparation for the international season.
“I have 14 weeks until the first world cup. It’s still early in the season, so I’m confident that I can put in the necessary work before we leave.”
