T&T’s Nicholas Paul rode to his second individual gold medal and third of four medals won when he took top spot in the men’s time trial final on the final day of competition at the Elite Pan American Track Cycling Championships at the Paraguay National Olympic Cycling Velodrome in Asuncion, Paraguay on Sunday.
A 2021 World Championship silver medal winner in the event and a bronze at both the 2018 Pan American Championships and 2022 Commonwealth Games, the 26-year-old Paul clocked a sizzling 59.729 seconds with an average speed of 60.272 kilometres per hour over the 1,000m distance as the penultimate rider of the eight-man final.
However, Colombian Cristian Ortega, the final competitor in the event, could not better Paul’s time and had to settle for the silver medal with a time of one minute, 00.372 seconds, while Canada’s James Hedgcock took the bronze medal with a top time of one minute, 00.798 seconds.
Paul’s gold medal ride added to his victories in the team sprint (Paul, Njisane Phillip, and Ryan D’Abreau) and match sprint while he also secured a silver medal in the Keirin.
The other finishers in the time trial final were Canada’s Ryan Dodyk (1:01.059 minutes), the USA’s David Domonoske (1:01.405 mins), Mexico’s Edgar Verdugo Osuna (1:01.676), Brazilian Joao Victor Da Silva (1:01.815), and Argentina’s Juan Bautista Rodriguez (1:05.457).
Earlier in the day in the qualifying round, Ortega was the top qualifier of the 25 cyclists with a time of 59.514 seconds at a speed of 60.490 km/h, with Paul a close second in 59.669 at a top speed of 60.333 km/h, as the two were the only riders under the one-minute barrier.
The trio of Hedgcock (1:00.944), Dodyk (1:01.124), and Osuna (1:01.214) rounded out the top five qualifiers with Da Sila (1:01.615), Domonoske (1:01.643), and Rodriguez (1:02.529), the sixth, seventh, and eighth best from the field, to secure their places in the final.
The local women’s team of Teniel Campbell, 27, who won the gruelling women’s 25km points race on Saturday night and was fourth in the women’s individual pursuit (2500m) which followed right after, and Alexi Ramirez just missed out on a medal after a fourth-place finish in the 12-team Madison (120 laps/30km) ride with a total of eight points, just one shy of Canada’s Lily Plante and Fiona Majende, while Colombians Lina Mercela Hernandez and Elizabeth Castano won gold with 49 points, and the USA’s Bethany Ingram and Olivia Cummins won silver with 42.
Campbell had earlier in the week earned a bronze medal in the women’s elimination race behind gold medal winner Yareli Acevedo of Mexico and Cuba’s Marlies Mejias.
Also yesterday, T&T’s Akil Campbell was seventh in the men’s elimination race, and Makaira Wallace was eighth overall in the women’s keirin after she placed second to Canada’s Sarah Orban in the ride for seventh to 12th.
When the women’s keirin pedalled off, Wallace placed fifth in the first of three heats behind Canada’s Lauriane Genest, Barbadian Amber Jospeh, the USA’s Emily Hayes and Argentina’s Natalia Andrea Vera, while fellow T&T cyclist Phoebe was fifth in the third heat behind Osuna, Orban, Colombian Juliana Gaviria and Chile’s Paola Munoz as they advanced to the repechage ride.
In the repechage, Wallace was first in heat one to book a semifinal spot alongside Vera and Munoz, while Sandy ended in the fourth spot in heat two behind the USA’s Kayla Hankins, Gavira and Argentina’s Valentina Mendez to miss out.
However, in the semifinals, with the first three riders booking a spot in the gold medal ride, Wallace missed out after she ended fourth in heat two behind Colombian Stefany Cuadrado, Osuna and Munoz.
