Paul, Cordner among nominees for First Citizens awards

CYCLIST Nicholas Paul and footballer Kennya Cordner are among the nominees for the senior athletes of the year for the First Citizens Sports Foundation Sports Awards 2021. The awards will be held on March 26.

Paul made his Olympic debut at the 2020 Tokyo games last year competing in both the sprint and keirin events.

Although he did not medal, Paul's blistering pace attracted significant attention. He finished in sixth place in the sprint.

At the 2021 International Cycling Union Track Cycling World Championships in France, last October, Paul earned a silver medal in the men’s 1K time trial. The accomplishment ended a 30-year medal drought for TT at the event.

The other top contenders for the senior men’s athlete of the year are boxer Nigel Paul, swimmer Dylan Carter and 200m/400m track and field athlete Jereem Richards.

Nigel also had a memorable year earning a bronze medal at the World Boxing Championships in Serbia. It was the first time a TT boxer won a medal at the championships.

Cordner can’t stop scoring for Fenerbache in the Turkish Women’s League this season. The Tobago striker has scored over 20 goals for her club.

Cordner, 33, also represented the national women’s senior team last year, but was not involved in the recent FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

Before moving to Fenerbache in November, Cordner helped Norwegian club IL Sandviken lift the Norwegian Women’s Cup.

There are many other top athletes in the women’s category including road cyclist Teniel Campbell, rower Felice Aisha Chow, judoka Gabriella Wood, long jumper Tyra Gittens and swimmer Cherelle Thompson.

They all represented TT at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics last year.

Gittens was a finalist in her event.

Awards will also be given to the youth male and female athletes of the year.