SA’s Track Hopeful: Bernard Esterhuizen

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Competing In

Men’s Sprint

Saturday 04 August 2012
Men’s Sprint Qualifying – from 11:00

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Sunday 05 August 2012
Men’s Sprint ¼ Final – 17:34
Men’s race for 5th-8th place – 19:47

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Monday 06 August 2012
Men’s Sprint Semi Final – 17:00
Men’s Sprint Final – 18:43

>> Click here for the full cycling schedule

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Date of Birth: 04.10.1992
Hometown: Bluff, Durban
Bernard did quite a bit of road cycling before completely focusing on track cycling in the u16 category, dabbling in a bit of triathlon as well. “Before the start of a race, I usually try to be as loose as possible and focus on my breathing to clear my mind,” says Bernard of his race preparation.

Bernard Esterhuizen began racing on the cycling track from the young age of eight, inspired by his father’s world master’s championship titles. As Esterhuizen’s racing progressed through the years, his dedication and commitment to training, as well as his raw talent and ability was noted by those around him. From 2009, Esterhuizen has been based at the UCI World Cycling Centre (WCC) in Aigle, Switzerland with the goal of preparing for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, specialising in the sprint discipline, which offers a shorter distance and explosive racing.

Esterhuizen took delight in the being selected to race at the Youth Olympic Festival in Australia. In
2010, he unfortunately crashed in the Keirin at the Commonwealth Games, but his best achievement to date is winning the 2010 Junior World Championship title in the 1km Time Trial. In 2011 and 2012, by finishing in the top 18 in the world in the Sprint discipline, Esterhuizen qualified for the London Olympics, which speaks volumes of his talent when the world’s elite were all vying for Olympic qualification and the pressures were extremely high! Exceptional performances over the past year have
seen Esterhuizen break the national record on two separate occasions.

“Four years ago, I was watching the Olympics on TV and it was incredible,” says Esterhuizen. “I didn’t imagine that I would be riding against the same riders that I saw on TV back then when I was 15.”