[UPDATED] Campbell's Olympic debut hailed as 'new dawn' for TT road cycling

PRESIDENT of the TT Cycling Federation (TTCF) Rowena Williams anticipates a new dawn for TT road cycling as Teniel Campbell becomes the first national cyclist to face the starter on the Olympic stage in a road event.

Campbell makes her Olympic debut in the women’s road race from 12.01 am on Sunday. Her challenging 137-kilometre course begins at Musashinonomori Park and concludes at the Fuji International Speedway.

Not only is she the first female cyclist from TT to secure an Olympic place but also the first-ever athlete to represent the country in a road cycling event.

“It’s a whole new chapter and dimension for TT road cycling. It’s a historic occasion that we’re looking forward to.

"We know she’s prepared, comfortable and ready to take on the world. We are 100 per cent supporting here and wishing her all the best,” said Williams.

Campbell, the only Caribbean competitor in this event, will go up against an international cast of 66 other top female road cyclists.

She is based near the starting point in a satellite village alongside Spanish coach Alejandro Gonzalez Tablas, manager Desmond Roberts and experienced mechanic Elisha Greene.

After a two-year training programme at the International Cycling Union (UCI) World Cycling Centre in Switzerland, she became TT’s first female cyclist to go pro after joining the Italian-based UCI Women’s Continental team Valcar Travel & Service.

There, Campbell had some good performances, grabing bronze in her debut event at the Vuelta CV Feminas in Spain and then fifth at the Omloop van het Hageland in Belgium four months later. She competed in the highly acclaimed Giro Rosa time trial and was 47th in the UCI Road World Championships Time Trial.

Three weeks later, pro team Mitchelton-Scott (Team BikeExchange) announced that Campbell would be joining the elite bunch. She has since been in training with coach Tablas in Europe as preparation for her biggest challenge yet.

“I know that she has trained hard. The terrain that she would be facing would be nothing new to her, since she would have raced out there (abroad) in similar conditions, so it should be good for her. She should be ready,” Williams added.

Meanwhile two-time Olympian Andrew Lewis is expected to hit the waters in Kamakura in the early hours of Sunday morning. Lewis will contest race one of the men’s one-person dinghy laser race from 1.34 am. The second race follows approximately an hour after the conclusion of the opening race. A start list is yet to be released for this event.

Additionally, Dylan Carter begins his Olympic campaign in heat two of the men’s 100m backstroke at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre on Sunday from 6.54 am.

The 25-year-old splashes off from lane three against Francisco Rogerio Santos (Portugal)m Michael Laitarovsky (Israel), Jan Cejka (Czech Republic), Kacper Stokowski (Poland) and Kaloyan Levterov (Bulgaria).

Of the 41 contesting swimmers, only the top 16 will advance to the semi-finals.

Among them are reigning Olympic men’s 100m and 200m backstroke champion Ryan Murphy (USA), two-time World champion Xu Jiayu (China) and Evgeny Rylov (Russian Federation).

Although Murphy holds the current men’s 100 backstroke Olympic record, he has beaten Murphy over 200m in the two World Championships.

Carter returns to the pool on Tuesday for the men’s 100m freestyle. He will vie for a spot in the next round, racing out of lane three in heat six.

Boxer Aaron Prince also makes his first appearance at the Olympic Games, at 12.24 am on Monday. He faces off against Slovakia’s Andrej Csemez in the preliminary stages pf the men’s middleweight (69kg-75kg) division.

This story was originally published with the title "Teniel Campbell to make historic Olympic debut on Sunday" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

CYCLIST TENIEL Campbell makes a historic Olympic debut for Trinidad and Tobago in the women’s race at 12.01 am (TT time) on Sunday.

The 23-year-old begins a new chapter for women’s cycling in TT as she becomes the first ever female cyclist to compete at the Summer Games.

Campbell is the only Caribbean competitor in this event and will go up against 66 top female road cyclists.

Her challenging 137-kilometre course begins at Musashinonomori Park and concludes at the Fuji International Speedway.

She is  based near the starting point in a satellite village alongside Spanish coach Alejandro Gonzalez Tablas and mechanic Elisha Greene.

Meanwhile two-time Olympian Andrew Lewis is expected to hit the waters in Kamakura on Sunday. Lewis will contest race one of the men’s one-person dinghy laser race from 1.34 am. The second race follows approximately an hour after the conclusion of the opening race. A start list is yet to be released for this event.

Additionally, swimmer Dylan Carter begins his Olympic campaign in heat two of the men’s 100m backstroke at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre on Sunday from 6.54 am.

The 25-year-old splashes off from lane three against Francisco Rogerio Santos (Portugal), Michael Laitarovsky (Israel), Jan Cejka (Czech Republic), Kacper Stokowski (Poland) and Kaloyan Levterov (Bulgaria).

Of the 41 contesting swimmers, only the top 16 will advance to the semi-finals.

Among them are reigning Olympic men’s 100m and 200m backstroke champion Ryan Murphy (USA), two-time World champion Xu Jiayu (China) and Evgeny Rylov (Russian Federation).

Although Murphy holds the current men’s 100 backstroke Olympic record, he has beaten Murphy over 200m in the two World Championships.

Carter returns to the pool on Tuesday for the men’s 100m freestyle. He will vie for a spot in the next round, racing out of lane three in heat six.

Boxer Aaron Prince also makes his first appearance at the Olympic Games at 12.24 am on Monday. He faces off against Slovakia’s Andrej Csemez in the preliminary stages of the men’s middleweight (69kg-75kg) division.

Also, if rower Felice Aisha Chow finishes in the top two of her repechage heat at 7.10 pm on Friday, she will secure a spot in the quarter-finals of the women’s single sculls event. The quarter-finals row off on Saturday from 8.20 pm.

Chow placed fourth in heat two on Thursday night and missed out on automatic qualification (top three) to the next round. She will have a final chance of progressing to the quarter-final on Friday.