Wallace helps Trinidad and Tobago win 8 Pan Am Jr Cycling medals

The five-member Trinidad and Tobago contingent concluded the 2024 Junior Pan American Track Cycling Championships with a haul of eight medals at the Velodrome Videna San Luis track, Lima, Peru on June 23.

Lone female rider Makaira Wallace ended the meet as Trinidad and Tobago's best performer, and she captured her third medal on June 23 when she bagged a third-place finish in the women's keirin event. On June 22, Wallace notched her second silver medal of the championship when she was pipped by Colombia's Stefany Cuadrado Florez in the women's 500-metre time trial.

On the final day of action, Wallace locked horns with Cuadrado Florez once more, and the latter rider, who's the reigning World Junior keirin champion, showed her undisputed class again as she held off Wallace and the chasing pack to strike keirin gold. Cuadrado Florez's countrywoman Mariana Perez Polo improved on her third-place finish in the time trial to grab silver, with Wallace taking the bronze medal.

On June 22, Jelani Nedd added to the team sprint silver medal he earned alongside Dannel James and Syndel Samaroo, when he grabbed another silver medal in the individual men's sprint event. Faced with the challenge of Colombia's Nicolas Olivera Madrid in the gold-medal race, Nedd couldn't quite muster the extra gear to get TT's elusive gold medal at the meet as his South American counterpart got the better of him in two straight rides in the best-out-of-three final.

On June 23, Samaroo missed out on getting his country's ninth medal at the games when he cycled to a fourth-placed finish in the men's kilo race in 1:05.560. Olivera Madrid affirmed Colombia's dominance at the meet as he led a one-two finish with a time of 1:03.767 as they got their 18th gold medal at the games.

Colombia ended the five-day meet as the most successful team with 28 medals, followed by Chile who grabbed 12 medals. TT were fourth on the medal chart with their eight-medal return.