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Collin Matiza Sports Editor
ZIMBABWE’S top female motocross rider Tanya Muzinda on Monday intensified her preparations for this year’s Thor Winter Olympics Supercross and Motocross Championships by having her first Super-cross practice session at the world famous Millsaps Training Facility at Cairo in Georgia, United States.

Muzinda (14) is attending a two-week “boot camp” at Millsaps Training Facility ahead of the 47th edition of the annual Thor Winter Olympics which are scheduled to run from November 19 to 24 at Gatorback Cycle Park in Florida, United States.

The Thor Winter Olympics are one of the premier amateur motocross racing events in the United States as they bring together riders from all over the world who, for six days, will battle to be crowned Olympiad Champion.

They are 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 the United States.

And Muzinda, the poster-girl of Zimbabwean motocross, will be making her maiden appearance at this year’s American Super-cross and Motocross jamboree after she was invited by the organisers of the race, Unlimited Sports MX, through their president, Wyn Kern, at the beginning of last month.

Muzinda’s invitation at the 47th edition of the annual fiesta was initiated by her international manager, Stefy Bau of Italy, a three-time World Women’s Motocross Champion, who also facilitated her two-week training camp at Millsaps Training Facility (MTF) where she is currently training under the eagle’s eye of one of America’s most revered female motocross trainers Colleen Millsaps.

In fact, owner Colleen Millsaps, along with others, saw the need for a place where aspiring racers could have a structured programme that would help them realise their dreams of making it in the sport.

They set out to create a full-blown training facility that would revolutionise motocross training by providing first class facilities and state-of-the-art programmes.

And Muzinda joined the Millsaps Training Facility for the two-week “boot camp” on November 5 and she had her first Super-cross training session on Monday, a week after arriving at this famous American motocross training facility.

Super-cross is an offshoot of the sport of motocross, which takes place on natural terrain. Super-cross racing, while related, involves off-road motorcycles on an artificial, man-made dirt track consisting of steep jumps and obstacles.

Whereas motocross takes place on long courses built primarily on the dirt and terrain offered up by nature, Super-cross races are made from dirt hauled into stadiums and in the United States they are mainly held indoors.

And Muzinda could not hide her excitement after her first experience training in Super-cross facilities at MTF on Monday.
“Monday practice day one Super X training at the famous Millsaps Training facility in Georgia went very well (with) some different sections of what I am not used to back home (in Zimbabwe) but it was very exciting.

“The temperatures were low, there were around 14 degrees Celsius in the morning and it was drizzling. I started off at 8:30am with the usual warm-up exercise drill (which is) done every morning under the instructions of Tony.

“Hopefully it doesn’t rain hard so I can be able to gain and learn to improve some skills,” Muzinda wrote on her Facebook wall on Monday soon after having her Super-cross training session at MTF.

Muzinda’s father and trainer, Tawanda, told The Herald from Georgia yesterday that they had a good Super-cross training session on Monday.