Perfectly set to mould her future
Local Paralympian Toni Mould is back in her home town for the first time since showing the world her tenacity at the Tokyo Paralympics earlier this year.
While taking part in the top of her sport was a lifelong dream realised, Mould is far from packing away her cycling gear.
She is currently nursing a knee injury back to health before getting back in the saddle to train for her next cycling event – the South African Road Championship in Mpumalanga in February next year.
“The plan was to return to training after taking about a month off after returning from Tokyo, but it hasn’t worked out like that,” Mould said from her mother’s home in Plett.
“I wanted to come to visit my family and close friends as I haven’t seen them since before or after Tokyo, and I plan to train over December so I came up now. It has worked out perfectly because I am having some problems with my knee, so I can’t train right now anyway.”
She said the SA championship is a really important competition, as the selectors look at these results when choosing the team for international competitions next year.
Disadvantage
While it had always been a dream to participate at the Paralympics, going to Tokyo she was not a medal contender. “The reason is that my class, the T1 class, was racing against the stronger, less disabled, T2 class for the same set of medals. At the Paralympics, unlike other competitions, there are only a set number of medals given out in each sport, but there are more classes. Thus they have to combine some classes.
It is unfortunate because those in T1 class, who have a higher level of impairment (such as myself), struggle to medal in a combined race.”
Before going, she wasn’t sure how many athletes she would be competing against but had dreamt of finishing within the top 10.
“Due to Covid restrictions, I had not had a single international race for almost two years. I finished 10th (out of 11 riders) in my time trial where we had almost perfect weather. Towards the end of the race, I had a nice mini race with the Greek athlete who finished after me. We were almost sided by side on the finish straight until I managed to pull away because we think she had a mechanical [issue]. But racing down the finish straight with her was fun.”
Road race
The road race was tough and extremely wet and a few riders could not finish the race. The morning of the road race she felt depleted from the previous race, training and the travelling.
The team doctor was not sure if she should start the race. “My coach, a fellow tri-cyclist from Australia who was also racing in the same races as me but in the stronger T2 class, expected me to be lapped due to the tough course and thus pulled out of the race by the marshals. I exceeded her and my team’s expectations by avoiding to be lapped and thus finishing the whole race in 8th position.”
Impact
One of the highlights of her experience was honouring her father. “My late father, Dave Mould, loved Formula 1 racing. To be racing at the Paralympics on a famous F1 race track was really special.”
She said that competing at such a high level changed her. “I am still trying to find the words to explain the change. I think that I have changed more as a person, in a positive sense, and that will spill over to me as an athlete. The most impactful change is within myself, my confidence, and the way I see myself. I think once I can get back into training and on my bike that change will come through in my cycling.”
Mould also learnt that she still wanted to race and compete. “A few months ago when I was struggling with funding and so on, I considered ending my cycling career on the high of Tokyo, just because I was tired of the struggle for funding and support.
“But I can see that I am still thirsty for more competitions, and enjoy the training and competitions.”
Support
She thanked the Plettenberg Bay and Knysna communities for their support. “I left Plett to go and study at Stellenbosch in 2004 and ended up living there permanently, but when Tokyo happened, the messages and support sent to me were overwhelming. My mom and brother were stopped in the streets and received phone calls of support.”
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