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Collin Matiza Sports Editor
TWO of Zimbabwe’s top motocross riders Tanya Muzinda and Regan Wasmuth will from tomorrow fall under the international spotlight when they take on some of the world’s aspiring amateur bikers at the week-long 2018 Thor Winter Olympics Supercross and Motocross Championships in Florida, United States.

The 47th annual Thor Winter Olympics begins tomorrow at Gatorback Cycle Park in Alchua, Florida and runs right through to November 24 as the best male and female amateur riders from around the world compete all-week long in what’s dubbed as the “Mini Os”.

In fact, the Thor Winter Olympics, presented by Pro Circuit, is one of the premier amateur motocross racing events in the United States as it brings riders together from all over the world. Riders battle for six days to be crowned Olympiad Champion.

It is also a part of the American Motocross Championship Majors – an alliance made up of an elite group of race organisers that host premier amateur and professional motocross events in America.

The event’s venue Gatorback Cycle Park is known for its mix of hard pack and sand, natural elevation changes and other obstacles.

Supercross racing starts the week with the final race on Wednesday before motocross takes over and ends next Saturday, November 24. The week concludes with an awards presentation ceremony.

And competing for the first time at this major international Supercross and motocross fiesta will be our own Muzinda (14), who was officially invited to take part in this year’s event by the organisers of the race, Unlimited Sports MX, through their president, Wyn Kern, at the beginning of last month, and Wasmuth (17).

Speaking from Georgia, United States, yesterday, Muzinda’s father and trainer, Tawanda, told The Herald that his daughter has been entered to race in the Senior Girls 12-16 years age-group at this year’s Thor Winter Olympics.

“Tanya has been placed in the Senior Girls 12-16 years category and she is going to take each race as it comes and do her best. What I can only say at the moment is that she is ready to battle it out with some of the best female riders in the world,” Tawanda Muzinda said.

Tanya will be joined on the track at Gatorback Cycle Park this coming week by one of Zimbabwe’s top junior male motocross riders Wasmuth who, according to his father Warren, arrived in Florida on Wednesday.

“Regan arrived in Florida on Wednesday morning. His coach, Shannon Niday, managed to get him a brand new Husqvarna 125cc to train on and race next week. The feedback we have received so far has been very positive.

“Shannon is very happy with Regan’s pace, corner speed and skill. They are working on his aggression and starts to ensure (he gets some) good results at the Thor Winter Olympics,” Warren Wasmuth said yesterday.

Meanwhile, Tanya Muzinda arrives at this year’s Thor Winter Olympics with no ghost of inferiority complex hanging over her head as she has competed in two other major international races in England last year where she first first took part in the HL Racing British Master Kids Motocross Championships at Bury St Edmunds, just outside London, in May.

Coming up against a strong field of 36 top junior male and female riders from England and other European countries in the 85cc B Class (small wheel), Tanya carried the Zimbabwean flag high at this three-day event where she earned herself a place on the podium, finishing third overall.

Before settling for the overall third place finish on the final day of that event, Tanya first made history by becoming the first female racer to win a heat at the British Master Kids Championships since its inauguration in 2013 when she won Heat Three on Day Two.

She then put the icing on the cake by finishing third overall to earn herself a bronze medal.

Tanya followed this up by winning yet another bronze medal when she finished third overall at the British Girls National Championships at the famous Wroxton track in Oxford, England, in September 2017.

And she is now bracing up for what is possibly her toughest assignment in the tough world of international motocross racing when she takes part in the six-day 2018 Thor Winter Olympics Supercross and Motocross Championships at the famous Gatorback Cycle Park in Alchua, Florida, United States.

The event starts tomorrow with all the competitors taking part in a full day of practice before proper competition starts on Monday with Supercross racing which will run for three days up to Wednesday and it will soon be followed by motocross action from November 22-24.

And looking at this tough programme, the Thor Winter Olympics is no place for the faint-hearted and it will be interesting to see how Tanya, at the age of 14, will handle the pressure riding against some of the top aspiring amateur riders drawn from the United States and across the whole world.

Tanya spent the past two weeks preparing for the Thor Winter Olympics at the world famous Millsaps Training Facility in Cairo, Georgia, which is a five-hour drive away from the event’s venue in Florida.

On Thursday, Tanya spent the whole day at the gym and yesterday she had her last training session at the MTF before heading out to Florida this morning to join the rest of the world’s top amateur riders for the six-day 2018 Thor Winter Olympics.