Dream come true

Mother-of-four Olga Gorvat proves that it is never too late to chase your sporting dreams as she tops the women’s individual standings in the Bahrain Cycling Association season.

The 40-year-old, who works as a line producer in Talking Pictures productions, is thrilled to be first in her category and is already training for the final race of the 2021/2022 season.

“It’s quite a weird feeling to be honest, since I’ve only been cycling for one-and-a-half years and this is my first-ever experience in competitions and races,” said Gorvat from Amwaj Islands who is representing ‘Trilife’ cycling team and competing in the female individual category. “To be at this level is a bit tense but at the same time, I’m taking it like a big interesting game.”

As for the final race of the season, based on what she was told, it will be on April 1 and it’s an individual Time Trial contest which is also called a ‘race against the clock’. Each rider starts at different timings and the fastest will be the winner.

“All of us have approximately three weeks to get ready – it usually includes switching to training on time trial bikes as there are different types of bikes for each race,” said Gorvat who is training nine to 11 hours a week. “For me personally, I’m trying to balance between working on a big international advertising film project, and my four children aged four, six, 10 and 19.

“Honestly, I’ll be happy if I’m in the top three. I believe it’s already an amazing achievement for a 40-year-old woman with four kids and a busy production job. Especially considering the fact that I never heard about all of this less than two years ago.

“It just goes to show that it’s never too late to start something new. I started when I was 39 and thanks to sport, I feel younger. While I’d like to compete in the Ironman World Championship, my main goal has already been achieved through sport and that is happiness and freedom.”

Ukrainian Gorvat, whose Egyptian husband works in Saudi, started her sporting journey by training to be a triathlete during the Covid-19 lockdown. She got used to running every day and after a gentle push from a couple of friends, she purchased a second-hand road bike. As for swimming, it came naturally to her as she said that ‘she enjoyed the beautiful Bahraini sea sides’.

However, Gorvat suffered a leg injury and turned her attention to cycling. She started by joining group rides with the Cyclones Cycling Club.

Now she finds it meditative and a great way to socialise as well.

“Bahraini sports communities are absolutely amazing,” said Gorvat who has worked on international productions for feature films, TV-series, advertising campaigns and music videos in different countries. “The teams are very welcoming to any newcomer, helping with advice, supporting and cheering them on and organising group trainings that can build them up from any level. The amount of support that I received in my first year is unbelievable. It’s very touching and inspiring!

“My advice to all is to just keep searching for what lights a fire inside you and follow it. You will be amazingly surprised at what you can do when you put your mind to it.”

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