AT just six, young Zimbabwean BMX sensation Rebekah Oberholzer became a world champion back in 2014.
BY FREEMAN MAKOPA
Since Rebekah’s older brother Benjamin, who happens to be her icon, has been living under the shadow of the sister, who is just two years his junior.
Ben, now 12, is a top BMX rider in his own right, having won multiple continental, regional and national medals over the years as well as representing the country at ICU championships at least six times on the trot.
At home, the Oberholzers are running out of space to display the children’s BMX trophies and medals and certificates.
Interestingly, it doesn’t end with BMX for the multi-talented siblings.
“Ben loves rugby too and he made the Mashonaland rugby team last year while he also enjoys outdoor activities like wakeboarding and water skiing,” Samantha Oberholzer, the two young athletes’ mother, told The Sports Hub.
Samantha could not find words to describe how it feels to be a parent the two kids who have flown the country’s flag up high since they were in kindergarten.
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“I can’t really describe the feeling now knowing that my two children have been selected to participate at the BMX World Championships in Baku again this year.
“Both Ben and Rebekah have been in the BMX limelight for the past six years and I expect them to write their own history by becoming world number ones in their BMX careers,” Samantha said.
“As for Rebekah, it is almost unbelievable that she has been a world champion already. She races boys all the time, which probably is what has helped to attain her standard. Even in South Africa she used to race with boys because there were no girls in her age group,” she said.
The sky is also the limit for Ben, who has acquired various accolades under his name which include several national championships, South African National age group championships, Africa continental Championships and Africa Challenge winners’ medals.
He also competed in the Gold Cup in the USA and won two categories, as well as at the Music City BMX in Nashville two years ago.
Just recently he clinched the interprovincial BMX title making him one of the country’s best junior male BMX riders of all time.
While many thought Benjamin inherited the art from his younger sister, it was actually him who carved his name in local BMX first.
For Rebekah, the 2014 Ansa Junior Sportswoman of the Year, the dream of riding bikes took off when she got bored of watching her brother competing at BMX tournaments.
The Chisipite Junior School pupil’s became the youngest athlete to win the Junior Sportswoman of the Year award at only seven.
“I am really satisfied with what I have accomplished so far in BMX. The journey has been amazing although I couldn’t participate at the interprovincial because I was nursing an injury last month,” Rebekah said.
In July, 2014 Rebekah finished first in the 5-7 class final at the UCI BMX World Championships in Rotterdam, Holland.
The feat immediately shot her into stardom; she has, however, failed to recapture the world title in the last three years.
At such a tender age, Rebekah and Ben boast of awards attained in gymnastics, triathlon, ballet, swimming, rugby as well as academic achievements at their schools.
Yet judging by their age, their story is only just beginning.
