Residents will have to wait until the end of January to find out if Nelson Mandela Bay is eligible to host one of the world’s largest freestyle sports events.
This is after Festival International Sports Extreme (FISE) organisers scouted the city on a two-day technical visit, mainly to inspect possible venues.
The municipality submitted its bid to host the FISE World Series – an international cycling, BMX, skateboarding and mountain biking competition – in October.
The FISE World Series is an annual international tour, featuring some of the world’s best athletes in BMX, skateboarding, mountain biking, freestyle roller and wakeboarding.
At the Chengdu leg of the series, 240,000 spectators converged, while 300 athletes participated from 30 countries.
Sports, recreation, arts and culture executive director Noxolo Nqwazi said the visit was part of the bidding process for the Olympic qualifier.
Nqwazi said possible venues for the event that had been visited included the Motherwell Peace Park, Mqolomba Park in Uitenhage, Chevrolet Stadium in New Brighton along with venues in Walmer and Gelvandale.
“These are the venues that we have identified. As soon as we finalise our bidding documents we will send them and then expect a response around the end of January.
“We already have several events that we host in Summerstrand and now we are more focused on other areas,” Nqwazi said.
“This is a community sport that is more focused on communities, especially exposing children to the sport.
“With international events there is an interest in experiencing something new, for example a different culture, which I think in Nelson Mandela Bay that is something we provide,” Nqwazi said.
Sports and recreation portfolio head Leihlohonolo Mfana said the city was looking forward to hosting the event.
“The programme is still in its baby phase but we are hoping and praying that this bid goes through. Some of our residents are not yet familiar with extreme sports but through this we will help young and old to experience this,” Mfana said.
FISE organiser Alexander Dardevet confirmed that other cities in the country were also interested in hosting 2019’s event.
“It’s important to understand that this is an international event for FISE where the athletes who will be competing will come from all over the world. As you know it will be a qualifier for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.”
Dardevet said the event was also aimed at engaging locals in the amateur component.
“We have different age categories, while the Olympic qualifier is also sanctioned by international federations.”