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make anything easy for himself and is always bouncing back from something, some call it bad luck, others think it could be from trying to hard but Skizo will tell you “it's racing, this is what I do. Our sport is extreme and if you're not riding on the edge you're not getting out of motos and making mains”

In 2005 the South African was Junior Cruiser World Champion, in 2006 he picked up a ride with the MTN Cycling Team which allowed him to compete full time overseas and gain the experience and momentum to become a full time PRO Bmxer living his lifetime dream. 2007 was a breakthrough year with him making a few mains and in 2008 Skizo was consistently getting on the podium. Two weeks before the 2008 China World Championships South Africa was 12th in the Nation ranking and the MTN rider had to finish on the podium to make it to the Olympics. If this was not enough pressure around 14days to the World Championships Skizo crashed and was unconscious for 4 min before being rushed to hospital. He was told not to race but that would mean ending his Olympic Dream, Sifiso pitched up in China and went about business as usual and finished 3rd which qualified him for the Olympics and to make history as being one of the first BMX riders to compete at the newest sport at the Olympics. I think every South African watching Nhlapo in the final had tears in their eyes as he went down in a possible podium position.

Sifiso had been recognized by the World and most importantly everyone at home started recognizing our BMX Hero. Sifiso knew he was one of the Worlds fastest and backed it up with a stellar performance in 2009 breaking records of 6 straight wins in the Elite class in Europe. As the pattern goes and you can see when he is UP he is UP. The following week training Skizo had an unfortunate training accident which left him with a broken neck, doctors told the young South African he would not race again but he said he would prove them wrong. 10 Months later he did just that at the 2010 BMX World Championships in Pietermaritzburg finishing 2nd and most probably the greatest comeback of his career.

The MTN Qhubeka Bmx rider was excited for the 2011 season as he was going to be heading into it stronger than previous years and would be SO ready for the first SX Olympic Qualifying round in South Africa in April. As the pattern goes in early season racing at one of the ABA US National rounds in Guthrie while leading one of the heats he came into contact with Canadian rider Nyhaug. This encounter caused Nhlapo to unclip from the pedals, in doing so he hyper extended his knee. At the time Skizo got helped off the track by the medics and sitting track side decided to drive himself to the hospital to check it out. On arrival at the hospital and seeing a doctor, he received the news that he would have to fly back to SA and have knee surgery as he has damaged his ACL. The doctors have ruled that Nhlapo will be out of racing action for the next 6 months.

What does this mean for the young South African? Well if none of the other South African Elite Bmx riders are getting past quarter finals at the SX Events and scoring points it will pretty much make it hard for SA to qualify for the Olympic Games and realistically Skizo will have to rise to the occasion and podium at the 2012 World Championships. This is a huge task as you have one shot at it on the day, but if you look at the way in which Nhlapo seems to have the calmness and big match temperament as seen in the last two Elite BMX World championships he has competed in, he has finished 3rd & 2nd respectively in 2008 & 2010 missing out 2009 because of the broken neck.

Doug Ryder MTN Qhubeka team owner commented, “BMX Racing is an Extreme sport and we knew this when we got involved with Sifiso. He has had extreme highs and lows in the past few years as he chases his and Africa’s dream of an Olympic Cycling Champion. We hope he recovers physically and stays mentally strong to continue on his path. Nice people deserve to be successful and this is hopefully just a minor setback.”

Sifiso comments before going into surgery on Monday 14th February, “I'm sad that my season ended before it barely started. Mostly for my sponsors family friends and fans. I had put in a lot of hard work for this season and was hoping for it to work out good. 2012 is the only goal now and I'm going to make sure come hell or high water come 2012 London Olympic Games Skizo105 will be on the gate. Thank you for all the possitive vibes.”