Marathon Sugar made my dreams come true – Shililifa

A young Namibian woman, Olivia Shililifa, who is part of the Physically Active Youth (PAY) programme based in Katutura, Windhoek, found her passion for cycling supported by Namibia’s number one sugar brand, Marathon Sugar.
The 19-year-old Shililifa was introduced to cycling in April 2019 and within four months, she made it to the Namibian school mountain bike team.
“The journey with Marathon Sugar has been a blast. Not only were they part of my entire cycling journey, they also bought me my first bike,” she said.
At the end of 2021, she was selected to be a pro-rider for the Canyon//Sram Generation Team, a cycling team based in Leipzig, Germany. Out of 239 applications from cyclists from 62 countries, Shililifa was picked among the final eight.
Set to feature in six key international races, she will be training in Spain and be based in Germany where she will continue her studies as part of the pro-rider agreement; with the potential to be further promoted to the Canyon//Sram Generation first team.
“I started my cycling journey in 2019 and it was my first time on the bike. I fell in love with the sport immediately and overcame my fear pretty fast. I never needed to worry about a thing; I just put in the hard work in my training.
"Marathon Sugar provided me with everything - my bicycle, my meals, my transport to competitions as well as my race fees. I also got a lot of emotional support from my coaches, my team and my sponsors Marathon Sugar and Bokomo Namibia, who made my dreams possible,” Shililifa said.
The cyclist thanked Marathon Sugar for betting on her, for believing in her and her peers and for backing the PAY Marathon Sugar Junior Cycling Team with the quality they needed to compete at the highest level.
She is the first PAY cyclist to attain a pro-cycling contract of this magnitude and will be the first to compete in the Union Cycliste Internationale Women’s World Tour, truly proving that with the right support, dreams can become possible.
“It has been an honour to witness Shililifa growth over the past four years; from a shy girl to a disciplined, determined and confident young woman. We would like to thank our partner in cycling, the trusted PAY team, for their continuous hard work and passion. The PAY team holistically educates, guides and moulds our young Namibians from Katutura to become incredible ambassadors and responsible adults,” Genevievé Fisch, the senior brand manager at Bokomo Namibia, said.