Track cycling could be dropped from 2022 Commonwealth Games in Durban

Track cycling is at risk of being dropped from the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Durban unless more money is made available to build a new velodrome in South Africa.

Track cycling has been a regular fixture on the Commonwealth Games programme since 1934 but remains an optional sport and South African officials say it could be omitted for 2022.

Durban, which was named on Wednesday as the first African city to host the Commonwealth Games, does not have a velodrome, and South African officials want the International Cycling Union (UCI) to contribute to the cost of building one.

“I met the president of the International Cycling Union and told him that if he wanted track cycling at 2022 then he needed to come to the party and help us build a velodrome,” the Commonwealth Games Federation vice-president Gideon Sam said.

“We cannot afford to build a facility that will cost us millions and not be used.”

Sam said if a velodrome was built, it would be located in the KwaZulu-Natal capital of Pietermaritzburg, located about 80km north-west of Durban.