Bay cyclist hopeful of medals at Games
[caption id="attachment_38968" align="alignright" width="250"] FIRMLY FOCUSED: Port Elizabeth's Kellan Gouveris will represent South Africa at the Commonwealth Games later this month[/caption]
NELSON Mandela Bay's Kellan Gouveris is confident South Africa's cyclists will perform well at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow later this month.
Gouveris, 19, is one of the country's up-and-coming cyclists and will be making his debut for South Africa at the Games, which start on July 23.
He will travel with other members of Team Abantu, who qualified for track cycling at the Games – Oupa Maluleke, Morne van Niekerk and 2012 World Track Championship silver medallist Nolan Hoffman.
The former Pearson pupil has high expectations for the team.
Gouveris said: "Sascoc announced the team over social media. Everyone was waiting in anticipation so I was quite nervous to see if I had qualified and made the track selection.
"I feel really honoured that I have been selected to represent my country at such a prestigious event," Gouveris said.
"It is a huge chance to ride for South Africa and this will motivate me to work harder and demonstrate my true potential."
Earlier this year, Gouveris competed in the SA Track Championship Elite Endurance events where he won gold medals in the team pursuit and Madison event. He also won a silver in the 40km points race.
Gouveris began his professional cycling career at the age of 17, but his love for cycling started much earlier than that.
He described himself as being terrible at school sports. "I was half decent at hockey so I played until Grade 9 and then I stopped all school sports."
Gouveris, who has been part of Team Abantu since its inception just over a year ago, said his father had been the biggest influence on his life and sporting career.
"He introduced me to cycling and has always supported me 100%."
He trains six days a week with each session lasting between four and seven hours.
According to Gouveris, most cyclists follow a strict and balanced diet to stay in prime shape.
He admits he is not one of those, but says he knows enough about nutrition to "eat clean meals with a bit of good fats, lean proteins and low GI carbs". - Amir Chetty
