Paul, Campbell pedal away with First Citizens honours

NICHOLAS Paul and Teneil Campbell rode away with the First Citizens Sports Foundation’s 2019 Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year awards.

Due to the global covid19 pandemic, this year’s show, which was originally due to take place at the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA), Port of Spain on March 21, was a pre-recorded edition which aired on local television on Sunday evening.

The pair of Paul and Campbell, who have booked spots for the Tokyo Olympic Games, which will be staged next year, were also the winners of the TT Olympic Committee (TTOC) Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year last December.

The 21-year-old Paul had a fantastic 2019, as he set a new world record, with a time of 9.100 seconds, in the men’s flying 200 metres at the Elite Pan American Track Cycling Championships in Cochabamba, Bolivia.

And Campbell, who recently joined UCI Women’s pro cycling team Valcar Cyclane, bagged a gold and three bronze medals at the Central American and Caribbean Games (CAC) Games in Barranquilla, Colombia last July.

Track and field took top honours in the Junior Sports Personalities section. Devin Augustine and Shaniqua Bascombe were adjudged the Junior Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year respectively.

Augustine claimed gold in the boys Under-17 100 metres at the 2019 Carifta Games in George Town, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, while Bascombe also captured Carifta gold last year, in the girls Under-17 200m.

The men’s 4x400-metre quartet of Jereem Richards, Deon Lendore, Asa Guevara and Machel Cedenio received the Lystra Lewis award for top individual, team or group after their gold medal run at the IAAF World Relays in Yokohama, Japan.

The Jeffrey Stollmeyer Award, for the top organisations, were presented to the TT Target Archery Federation (small category) and the TT Chess Association (large category).

Earlier in the 90-minute show, 10 sporting personalities were inducted into the First Citizens Sports Foundation Hall of Fame – Dr Iva Gloudon (administration), Lester Osouna (track and field coach), David Farrell (posthumous – administration table tennis and basketball), Bertille St Clair (football coach), Dexter St Louis (posthumous – table tennis), George Bovell III (swimming), Ralph Gosein (posthumous – cricket umpire), Cheryl Ann Sankar (taekwondo), Claude Noel (boxing) and Dave Lamy (posthumous – sports journalist).