TT cyclists aim for podium spots at 2020 Olympics

NICHOLAS Paul was born on September 23, 1998 to Darren and Nicole Paul. The cyclist turns 21 today . He attended VOS Government Primary School, Gasparillo Composite and Naparima College, where he began his journey as a young cyclist. While at “Naps”, Paul also played football for his school in the Secondary Schools Football League for their Under-14, Under-16 and their senior team.

At age 14, he joined Rigtech Sonics then Breakaway Cycling Club. He now rides unattached, training under national team coach, Erin Hartwell. In his junior years, Paul was selected for a specialist training cam, in Switzerland, courtesy the International Cycling Union (UCI). He capitalised on this opportunity and is now one of TT’s hottest competitive prospects. His most recent achievements have seen Paul shatter the world record in the Flying 200m event (9.1 seconds) and help TT grab gold in the Team Sprint.

Paul’s main goal as a national athlete is to secure a podium position in the Men’s sprint, Team Sprint or Keirin event at the 2020 Olympic Games.

NJISANE Phillip was born on May 29, 1991 to Nicholson Phillip and Marie Dimsoy. At five, he received his first BMX mongoose bike as a Christmas gift. He then transitioned his juvenile racing into the junior category. At 15, he became TT’s first ever triple gold medallist, at the Junior Pan Ams in sprint, keirin and kilometre time trial and also grabbed bronze with compatriots in the team sprint.

His only club was Rigtech Sonics training under the late Noel Luces. Phillip went on to become the only TT cyclist to ever earn a medal at a UCI World Cup (silver) and then became TT’s second rider to ever qualify TT for the sprint event at the Olympic Games in 2012. There, he produced a breathtaking fourth place finish which was instrumental in generating TT’s many successes today. He has broken and still holds multiple national records, Pan American medals, several US titles and is also intent on securing an Olympic spot for TT at Tokyo 2020. He is considered arguably TT’s most decorated cyclist to date.

KERON Bramble was born on December 8, 1992 to Wayne and Anetta Young Bramble. He attended San Fernando Boy’s RC Primary School, St Madeline Secondary and St Kevin’s College. Bramble is a longstanding member of Rigtech Sonics Cycling Club and trained under the late Noel Luces and alongside Njisane Phillip and Elisha Greene.

The cyclist grew up in Princes Town but now resides in Marabella. He has been a dominant sprinter along the national circuit and favours the sprint and keirin events. In 2015, he was the only TT rider to join Njisane Phillip for an intimate training camp in Colombia.

Bramble captured his first-ever international medal in 2018 as part of TT’s golden Team Sprint squad. He then followed up with another golden finish in the same event at the 2019 edition and also grabbed his first individual medal by holding on to bronze at the same Championships.

“Bramble Boy” is goal bound on securing an Olympic spot in the Team Sprint with the National team for Tokyo 2020.

KEIRIN king, Kwesi Browne, was born on January 31, 1994, and has been a reckoning force on both the local and international circuit since his arrival to the sport.

Browne grabbed bronze in the Keirin at the 2014 CAC Games and produced the same effort in the same event at the 2016 Pan Am Championships. In 2015, Browne won gold at the International Keirin Competition at Trexlertown in Pennsylvania. He is also a former Junior Pan American champion.

At the recently concluded Pan Am Championships, Browne had a bad crash in the Men’s Keirin and is still currently nursing injuries. However, he is intent on returning to the circuit for a 10-week training block scheduled to start this week under National coach, Erin Hartwell. Similarly, Browne is working towards Olympic Team Sprint qualification for TT for the coming 2020 Summer Games.

FEMALE endurance cyclist, Teneil Campbell, is one of TT’s leading women’s riders on the road. Born September 23, 1997, Campbell won four medals at the 2018 CAC Games and then followed up with a golden showing at the Pan Am Road and Track Championships Under-23 Individual Time Trial the very next year. She also captured both stages, the general classification, the points classification and the youth classification in the Kreiz Breizh Elites Dames.

Campbell is currently in Switzerland riding for the UCI’s World Cycling Centre team, which competes in elite road cycling events such as the UCI Women’s World Tour. Her presence there is to further develop as a young cyclist alongside several other riders from around the world. Campbell is seen as one of TT’s bright and upcoming female athletes and is gearing up for a hectic competitive season, pre-Tokyo 2020.