Akil Campbell pedals to historic gold in Pan Am Track Cycling

AKIL CAMPBELL became the first Trinidad and Tobago cyclist to capture a gold medal in an endurance event – men’s Scratch Race – at the Elite Pan American Track Cycling Championships in Lima, Peru on Saturday.

Starting on the railing of the Videna National Sports Village arena, Campbell topped the field of 12 riders over the 15-kilometre (60 laps) event.

Jamol Eastmond (Barbados), who also races in TT with Heatwave Cycling Club, earned silver while Julio Padilla Miranda held on to bronze. Rounding off the top five were Ecuador’s Leonidas Novoa Pavon and Chile’s Pablo Seisdedos Duque respectively.

Campbell’s gold sent TT’s medal tally to three thus far at the Championships.

His performance came on the heels of female compatriot Alexi Costa’s bronze medal performance in the women’s Scratch Race on Friday. Costa also became TT’s first female to secure a podium place in this event. This was also her first Pan Am medal.

Additionally on Friday, TT’s men’s team sprint trio of Njisane Phillip, Keron Bramble and Zion Pulido were unable to defend their 2019 crown but still grabbed silver behind the Colombians in this event.

Meanwhile, on day-two, the US-based Costa finished sixth in the women’s elimination race. Colombia’s Lina Hernandez-Gomez won the event while Canadian Maggie Coles-Lyster and Mexican Sofia Arreola Navarro were second and third respectively.

In the men’s keirin, multiple Pan Am medallist Njisane Phillip and Keron Bramble advanced to the second round of racing.

Racing out of heat two, Phillip registered a spot in the next stage by finishing second behind Colombian Santiago Ramirez. Only the top two in each heat automatically advances.

In heat one, Bramble missed out after placing third behind Colombia’s Kevin Quintero and Guatemalan Luis Cordon Paz respectively. He was however, able to win heat one of the repechage (a final chance at qualifying) and move on to the second round of the keirin.

Up to press time, the pair were scheduled to ride in separate heats – each with five other cyclists – in search of a spot in the 1st-6th and 7th-12th finals. The top three riders in each heat will advance to the former while the remaining cyclists compete in the latter.

On Sunday, Costa begins her medal chase in the Omnium event while Phillip is expected to line up in the opening rounds of his pet event, the men’s sprint.