Having established herself as a force among the world’s junior riders, Barbadian cyclist Arielle Greaves is now eyeing similar success as she prepares to embark on her senior career.
The talented 17-year-old Trinidad-based rider capped an impressive junior career with strong performances at the UCI Junior Track World Championships in Belgium from August 19-23, finishing 10th in the keirin and 12th in the sprint.
Speaking to Barbados TODAY from Belgium, Greaves rated her performances 10 out of 10, given her limited resources compared with riders from countries such as Germany and France.
She said she was extremely proud of her progression and hopes to maintain that level of consistency.
“The level of competition was quite high because obviously those would have been people from Europe, countries where they would be exposed to higher quality of racing and performance and training.
“Based off my training and how well I did, I would say that I was quite up to their level however,” Greaves added.
From Belgium, Greaves will return to Barbados for a short break before returning to Trinidad to continue her training. The absence of a velodrome in Barbados means the young rider has had to leave her family to pursue her career at the highest level.
“That challenge is a little bit hard, but in life you have to make certain sacrifices to get to certain places. So it’s just a sacrifice that I have to make to be as great as being in the top 10 in the world.”
The sacrifice has so far paid off. At the Junior World Championships, Greaves finished 10th in the keirin and 12th in the sprint.
“In terms of my current rank I placed 12th in the sprint and 10th in the keirin. In the kilo I didn’t make it to the final.”
With the door now closed on a successful junior career, an ambitious Greaves is looking forward to picking up where she left off when she moves into the senior ranks next year. She is set to compete at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, from July 23 to August 8. Until then, she will continue her training.
Greaves urged fellow young Barbadian riders not to be daunted by challenges that could stall their quest for success.
“I would say that consistency is key. If you really love doing something, just stick to it and just follow the process. Not every day will be a good day and not every day will be a bad day, but at the end of the day, we all have small goals and we all get there.”
(KH)
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