Grossmann seeks employment in Europe
By Michael Uugwanga
ONE of the country’s top female cross-country cyclists, Steffie Grossmann who is currently residing in South Africa has said that she is planning to move to Europe in search of employment and to prolong her career there.
Grossmann was speaking in an interview with Confidente Sport while outlining her plans for the year and her achievements from last year despite Covid-19.
Her last international participation was last year at the Downhill Elite world Championship in Leogang, Austria, where she came in 23rd position.
“I am currently based in Pretoria.
I completed my studies last year (2019), so the unofficial plan is to find a job in Europe and move there this year. But for now, I will be staying in Pretoria, until end of January. We shall see what this year brings, and take it one day at a time. Who knows? I might be back in Namibia, I might work in South Africa, or race in Europe.
“Last year I had so many plans and targets, however some turned out as planned while others did not go to plan.
I never thought that I would be racing XCO championships in Namibia however there I was racing Cross-Country Olympic (XCO) again. One of the only targets that I did set last year was going to the world championship,” said Grossmann.
With Covid-19 continuing to threaten the hosting of major sporting events globally, athletes such as Grossmann will need to learn to accept the current situation.
“The goal for this year is to compete in the European IXS Downhill series as well as doing one or two world cups and rounding the year off with World Championships. However, I am pretty much waiting to see how things will play out this year. I would therefore not want to make too many plans as Corona could ruin everything,” she said.
Grossmann said she joined the sport of cycling because her parents were cyclists even though former Namibian cycling male champion and retired Olympian, Mannie Heymans played a big role in her career.
“I have been on two wheels pretty much my whole life.
Some say I could ride a bike before I learned to walk. My parents had a big influence in my choice of sport. I might have told them a couple of times that I will never sit on a bike again… but I always went back to riding my bicycle. The heart wants what the heart wants.”
Why mountain biking? Grossmann had this to say: “It is just so much fun. There were many other kinds of sports I tried and competed in. I must have been around 15 years old when I decided to focus on cycling. I was 19 years old when I decided to specialise in downhill racing. I have been at two World Championships twice now, thanks to the help and support of Mannie (Heymans)”.