Olympic cyclist Nicholas Paul: My eyes are set on Paris 2024

REST, reset, refocus and return.

Nicholas Paul’s Olympic journey has just begun. Although the speedster concluded his debut at the Tokyo Games with a credible sixth-place finish in the men’s sprint, he believes this is just the beginning.

“I’ll start by saying thanks to God. It’s been a long journey and He’s been taking me through. He guided and protected me so I just want to give Him thanks. I prepared for four years for Tokyo 2020 and got another year because of the Games being postponed,” he said.

The 22-year-old’s sixth-place finish in the sprints came with some controversy after he defeated Russian Olympic Committee’s Denis Dmitriev in two straight quarter-final rides.

After winning both races, officials forced a third and decisive ride as the TT cyclist was relegated for a violation in the second race. Dmitriev went on to win the third race, advance to the semis and eliminate all hopes of Paul medalling in the sprint.

Similarly in semi-final heat two of the men’s keirin, Paul was favoured to advance to the medal race (1st to 5th final). However, he finished outside of the top two automatic qualifiers and was scheduled to contest the race for 7th to 12th position.

But during his semi-final ride, the cyclist picked up his second warning from race officials after he rode slightly off the track to gain an advantage in the last sprint. This second warning of the Games saw him disqualified and unable to place.

Looking back, the men’s Flying 200m world record holder (9.1 seconds) sees his mistakes on the track as two additional opportunities to improve his craft.

On his keirin disqualification, he said, “It was a bit of a sweet and sour moment because yes, I was disqualified and could not go on to the next round. At the same time, it taught me to always ride the race a bit smarter.

“I’m going back to the drawing board, there’s a lot to work on. I learnt a lot. I’m going back to the drawing board and come again; bigger, faster and stronger. These happenings made it a great learning experience for me as well.”

The men’s keirin was also contested by compatriot Kwesi Browne, who placed an impressive ninth among a field of other top-ranked international cyclists.

This event also served as TT’s final chance of securing the nation’s first medal at the Games after 29 of the 33 national athletes were unable to do so. Two athletes, Anduwelle Wright (men’s long jump) and Sparkle McKnight (women’s 200m) also had a premature end to their Olympic campaign after returning positive covid19 tests.

Heading into TT’s final event of the historic Games, Paul said there was no added pressure placed on him and Browne to salvage an Olympic medal.

“We couldn’t pressure ourselves because we had to go out there and execute the game plan and try to win. It’s always about putting your best foot forward. Yes, we wanted to deliver the medal for TT but it didn’t happen at this time. I trust with time, it would come,” he added.

Paul, who rides domestically for Central Spokes Cycling Club, admitted that it was tough to compete at the Izu Velodrome in Japan.

Although he was unable to capture a medal, Paul sees his first Olympic experience as a crucial building block on his journey towards gaining that elusive medal.

“So my eyes are set on Paris 2024 at the moment but I can say it really was a great experience competing at the highest level. I know I did the work and put in the hours. I knew I was strong and fast enough.

“It was just about going out there and executing and I think I did that. It was a hard competition because they were all world-class athletes; so every race was like a final,” he said.

Paul is expected to return home on Thursday (today) after spending 11 months away from his Gasparillo base.

In October last year, he and Browne returned to the International Cycling Union World Cycling Centre in Aigle, Switzerland to resume training under Scottish coach Craig McLean. The pair remained there to train and was able to get some races in on the European circuit before the Summer Games.

On the exploits of his coach, Paul said, “Big thanks to my coach because he has done a lot of hard work with us. For me to do my personal best at sea level, 9.3 seconds in the flying 200m, I was really happy with that.

“That was mind-blowing for me and to qualify fourth fastest at the Olympics, that was major for me. I send big thanks to coach Craig McLean for dedicating his time for us.”

He also commended his training partner Browne for his brazen showing in the keirin final.

“It’s always great to see teammates get success as well. We all are working hard, day in day out, chasing success on our journey towards getting that medal or whatever your dream is set out to be. I’m happy for him, to see all his sacrifices, hard work has been paying off. It was a great moment for him,” Paul said.

The world record holder also congratulated fellow World Cycling Center (WCC) training partner Jair Tjon En Fa (Suriname) who placed an impressive fourth in the keirin final. En Fa joined the WCC programme at the same time as the TT pair and was also coached by McLean leading up to the Games.

He continued, “Jair, just like Kwesi, is a brother now. We’ve been training for the same amount of time.

Although we’re not representing under the same flag, he’s been sacrificing and putting in the hard work as well. From a brother to another brother, I’m really happy for him and hope that he continues on his journey.”

He also acknowledged TT’s Olympic delegation, TT Olympic Committee officials and his family members back in TT for the support shown throughout their competitive campaign.

Paul expressed pleasure with the efforts of the Tokyo 2020 organising committee for hosting a successful Games and minimising the risk of covid19 spread amid the global pandemic and a state of emergency in Tokyo.

He, however, remains focused on what the future holds for his potentially lucrative cycling career.

“When I come back to TT, I want to take a little rest, reset, refocus, have a little family time and then back to the ball again; maybe at the UCI Nations Cup in Cali, Colombia (September) or the World Track Cycling Championships (October).

“Just to go out there and beat some of those athletes, it was a good feeling. But the journey doesn’t stop here and it’s to just keep building the foundation to continue going out to represent,” he closed.