T&T’s Nicholas Paul, Njisane Phillip, Kwesi Browne and Keron Browne picked up from where they left off at last month’s Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in Colombia by pedalling to gold in record time when the first night of competition at the 2018 Pan American Elite Track Cycling and Caribbean Championship ended in Aguascalientes, Toluca, Mexico on Wednesday night.
The trio of 19-year-old Paul, 19, Phillip, 27, Browne, 24, combined for a new Pan Am record 42.681 seconds for the gold medal ahead of Colombia (43.095).
Brazil (43.860) got bronze ahead Venezuela (44.031).
The time by the T&T cyclists was equal to the time done by Great Britain at the London 2012 Olympics and Rio 2016 and would have put T&T on the podium as gold and bronze medal winners respectively.
Earlier on in the day at the Belem Guerrero Velodrome, T&T, the Caribbean champions made a super start to proceedings when the Team Sprint trio Kerron Bramble, Phillip and Paul broke the T&T national record with a time of 43.155 and qualified first for the finals ahead of Colombians Santiago Ramirez, Riben Murillo and Kevin Quintero (43.574).
Last month the trio of Paul, Browne and two-time Olympian Phillip competing at the 23rd CAC Games in Barranquilla, at the Velodromo Alcides Nieto Patina clocked a time of 43.873 seconds, a new games record, for the gold medal well ahead of Venezuela (44.578 secs) and Colombia (44.172 secs) who got silver and bronze respectively. Mexico was fourth in 45.774.
T&T had earlier finished with the fastest qualifying time of 44.096 ahead of the Venezuelans (45.154).
Also medalling on Wednesday for T&T was Alexi Costa, who took the Caribbean Championship bronze medal in the Women’s Scratch event after escaping a major crash in the final sprint.
Yesterday in the men’s Keirin, Paul and Browne went after medals while today, Jabari Whiteman faces the starter in the Men’s Individual Pursuit qualifiers and Points Race; Costa returns to competition in the four-part Women’s Omnium, and Paul and Phillip go after glory in the Men’s Sprint.
At the CAC Games Browne, got a bronze in the Keirn after fellow Paul was relegated to sixth for an infringement after he originally ended in third spot, one ahead of Browne.
Earlier in the morning session, Paul and Browne were one-two finishers in the second of three keirin heats.
Paul will also compete in the Kilo Time Trial on Sunday, September 2 along with Quincy Alexander, while Akil Campbell, another CAC Games medalist faces the starter for the men’s Scratch Race tomorrow and Omnium.
The T&T team is being accompanied by Erin Hartwell (Technical Director) and Elisha Greene (mechanic).