Meet cycling champion Caitlin

Rustenburg – Rustenburg local cycling superstar Caitlin Thompson is constantly making headlines with her podiums finishes. 

Platinum Weekly spoke to Caitlin to find out more about her cycling journey – so to speak. 
Caitlin got her first bicycle when she was still very young. It initially started out as a casual activity. “I really started cycling in 2017. I didn’t train much, but my running fitness gave me a good edge,” Caitlin said. 

During the early years she mainly competed in mountain bike races and only moved to a proper entry level in late 2017. Running at that stage remained her prime focus.

In 2018 she was spotted by a keen triathlete, the late Neil Collette, who was convinced she would make a great triathlete. Caitlin added:

“My running and cycling complemented the sport well and I was a respectable swimmer, so it all made sense. I started participating in triathlons in 2018 and in March that year as a first-year youth, I came 3rd at SA Champs.”

Later that year she won the youth female category at SA Duathlon Champs. Later that same year, while leading a trail run, she broke her ankle, and this put an end to her successful 2018 season. When she started training again, she found running difficult and decided to focus entirely on cycling. 
And so, her first actual season of cycling stated in 2019. 

Her high school career started at Bergsig Academy but due to a combination of the Covid-19 lockdowns impeding education and the demands of cycling, she left at the end of Grade 10 and moved to Teneo online schooling.

This allowed her a consistent education without restrictions and provided her with the freedom and flexibility around her training and racing. The World Championships required her to be in Belgium for roughly four weeks. During this time, she was able to continue her studies online and even write exams. 

When asked how she balances school and cycling she responded:

“Keeping a balance can be hard at times, especially with long rides on the weekends which take up a lot of time. I really want to do well in school, to be able to study in the future, which keeps me motivated. I also know that if I just put in a little bit of hard work, I won’t have to stress or worry about falling behind.”

Her training schedule varies, but mostly it’s a six-day exercise with about 2 hours of cycling per day. 
Her plans for her future cycling career include winning both the Junior Women’s ITT and Road Race Championships National titles this coming year.

She would also like to take both titles for African Continental Championships, in March and one of her bigger ambitions would be to place in the top 10 of the Junior Women’s UCI Time Trial World Championships, later this year. 

The athlete she looks up to is Jolanda Neff, a professional mountain biker, because of her positive attitude and determination to never give up.

Caitlin’s parents are by far her biggest supporters and the title she is most proud of is the Junior Women’s Individual Time Trial Champion purely because of how much work and effort went into trying to achieve it.

She shared some advice for other aspiring cyclists: “Just continue trying to do your best. Your best is all you can give and that’s perfect! If you give your best in both training and races, you can never go wrong, regardless of the results.”

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