Spotlight On – Vera Adrian

VERA Adrian wrote her name in Namibian sporting history and broke new ground when she won two gold medals at the African Cycling Championships in Morocco last week.

She is the first Namibian woman to win the African gold medal, and second Namibian overall after Dan Craven, while she also won a place for Namibia at the Rio Olympics. Namibian male cyclists Mannie Heymans, Erik Hoffmann and Dan Craven have competed at the last four Olympics since 2000, but a Namibian female cyclist will now for the first time also compete at the Olympic Games.

The 22-year-old Adrian had shown signs of her great potential when she won a bronze medal in the time trial at her first African Championships in Burkina Faso in 2012, while she once again won bronze in the time trial and silver in the road race in Egypt the next year.

This time, at her third continental championships, Vera was well prepared and ready for the challenge and when she finally won her first gold in the individual time trial, beating Jeanne d’Arc Girubuntu of Rwanda by a split second, she was overwhelmed.

“I couldn’t believe that I had won, it was insane, and I felt great and overwhelmed. It was the first time I had won an African gold medal and to hear my national anthem playing was a dream come true,” she said.

The Namibian Cycling Federation (NCF) will now have to decide whether Vera or her team mate Michelle Vorster will go to the Olympics and Vera said she could only hope for the best.

“‘I’m waiting to hear from the NCF what qualifying races we will have to do. I’d love to go to the Olympics, but Michelle would also and now I’m just waiting to hear what the NCF decides,” she said.

Vera took up sport from a young age and soon started excelling in swimming and cycling. At seven she joined a junior cycling development group of about 10 boys and girls that was coached by Hella Rust.

The group included Till Drobisch, who has since become one of Namibia’s top male cyclists, but back in the early days Vera still beat him.

“In the beginning at u8 level I always beat Till because boys and girls raced together. I later started racing in the South African Eric van Ente race and won that a few times,” she said.

Vera was also a top swimmer, setting several Namibian u10 age group records but by 16 she had to make a choice between the two sport codes.

“I was still swimming at the age of 16 and had to decide which sport to drop and which one to specialise in. I thought I’d have a better chance to do well in cycling because at the time the women’s field was not that strong while swimming was getting a bit monotonous. I remember just counting the tiles on the floor as I did my laps during training.”

She decided on cycling, but her first international competition was a sobering experience.

“When I was in Grade 11 I went to the Junior World Championships in Italy for the first time, but it was quite a sobering experience. I didn’t get lapped but I finished second last and I remember when I arrived at the finish they were already handing out the medals to the winners, so that was quite demoralising.”

The next year, in 2011, Vera went to the Commonwealth Youth Games on the Isle of Man and although she didn’t do too well, it motivated her to train harder.

Her hard work started paying dividends and by November 2012, having just turned 19, Vera won her first medal at the African Championships in Burkina Faso.

Vera started studying at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa in 2013 and by the end of the year again medalled at the African Champs – this time winning silver and bronze in Egypt – an achievement for which she received the Namibian Sportswoman of the Year award the following year.

Having conquered Africa, Vera is now keen to build her cycling career either in South Africa or Switzerland.

“My main ambition this year is to complete my studies, but then I’ll try and get a contract and earn some money through cycling. I’m aiming to cycle in South Africa or Switzerland – it would be nice to become a professional cyclist,” she said.

One on One with Vera Adrian

When and where were you born?

28 October 1993 in Windhoek.

Which schools did you attend?

Deutsche Höhere Privat Schule Windhoek, from Grade 1 to 12.

Tertiary education?

I’m currently studying B Comm Management Accounting at the University of Stellenbosch.

The South African cyclist, Anriette Schoemann

What role did your parents play in your sporting career?

They were always supporting but never pushed me into something I didn’t want to do. They gave me the best support I could have wished for.