Paul to start final phase of Olympic qualifiers

TT’s Nicholas Paul will begin the final phase of his Olympic qualification campaign when he lines up in the International Cycling Union (UCI) Track Cycling World Championships Men’s Sprint qualifier (Flying 200 metres) from 6.25 am (TT time) on Saturday.

Paul, who holds the current world record of 9.1 seconds in this event, must clock one of the top fastest times of the 35 contesting athletes to advance to the next round at the Berlin Velodrome, Germany. The 21-year old speedster is scheduled to compete in 29th position.

Paul faces the starter against the likes of former Olympic Men’s Sprint gold medallsit Jason Kenny (Great Britain), several riders from the highest UCI ranked Sprint nation (Netherlands) and other top-ranked athletes from New Zealand, Hong Kong, China and Japan among other nations.

Although Paul is favoured to secure a spot at the Summer Games due to his many credible performances and UCI points earned over the past three years, Saturday’s early-morning qualifier and the rounds that follow, play integral roles in affirming his Olympic debut.

Presently, TT (5,326 points) is ranked seventh on the Track Sprint Olympic Ranking with Netherlands (10,520), Australia (8,305) and France (6,066) rounding off the top three respectively.

After capturing silver in the Men’s Team Sprint (with Njisane Phillip and Kwesi Browne) at the Pan American Track Championships in 2017, Paul followed up with three more golden displays in the Sprint, 1km Time Trial and Team Sprint (with Phillip and Browne) at the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games.

He then joined forces once more with Phillip and Browne to retain their Pan Am Championships Team Sprint title, bag silver in the Sprint and bronze in the 1km Time Trial one year later. Paul went on to set a flying 200m world record (9.1) at the Elite Pan American Track Cycling Championships in Bolivia, wiping away the previous record set by France’s Francois Pervis (9.347), which stood since 2013.

Additionally, over the past three months, he produced a series of decent performances at the four UCI World Cups placing ninth (China), eighth (New Zealand), tenth (Australia) and 19th (Canada), capturing hundreds of precious UCI Olympic qualifier points towards his campaign.

Once Paul punches his Olympic ticket in the Men’s Sprint, by qualification rules, he can also contest the Men’s Keirin event at the Games. He joins compatriots Browne (Keirin, Sprint) and TT first-ever female Olympic cycling representative, Teniel Campbell (Women’s Road Race) in Tokyo. This will also be TT’s largest cycling contingent in almost 50 years.