25-Year-Old Omphile “Joy” Motaung is breaking down barriers in the cycling world but struggling to find support in doing so; her inspiring story has the power to change endurance sports forever!
Johannesburg, South Africa (16 November 2022) – Endurance sporting events are often expensive endeavours taken up by people who have access to substantial funding, people who have secured awesome sponsorships or people who have an incredible network of supporters. Until recently, there has been no space for athletes from disadvantaged communities, but that is finally changing!
Many athletes use their ability and love of endurance races to raise funds for worthy causes. Ingrid Avidon decided to use her love of the sport to raise funds to bring in more female athletes from disadvantaged backgrounds into the sport.
Representation in sports is often lacking when funding isn’t available. By raising funds to cover the high fees frequently asked by endurance event organisers, Ingrid had hoped to give more women the opportunity to push themselves. Representation in sports is important because it gives children the opportunity to dream about achieving the very same accomplishment
That is where Omphile “Joy” Motaung comes in. She became Ingrid’s training partner and before long, Ingrid had started raising funds to get Omphile to join her on a 2150km Race Across South Africa. Omphile raced alongside RASA veteran Ingrid Avidon. The ladies helped push each other and together, completed the race in 21 days and 13 hours.
Ingrid played an integral role in motivating Omphile to join the sport. Today, Omphile is committed to doing as many of these races as she can but she can’t do it alone. She hopes to connect with long-term sponsors and donors who can help not only assist in funding part of her races but help inspire the next generation of female athletes who come from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Omphile has now set her sights on the “1000 Miler” which she will do alongside Ingrid. The ladies are hoping to raise funds for Omphile to take part using BackaBuddy. Her campaign for RASA is still active so the funds raised going forward will aid in the support needed to complete the “1000 Miler” from Joburg to Cape Town.
They will also be using this race to raise awareness and funds for fighting cancer too. Cancer has touched the life of Omphile, losing her mother to the disease when she was young. She understands the absolute fight a person puts up during treatment and hopes to add a little joy to the lives of fighters and survivors.
If you would like to support this next race, you can do so via BackaBuddy here.
by 