Nicholas Paul chases gold for Trinidad and Tobago in Pan Am Games

Trinidad and Tobago cyclist Nicholas Paul will go after this country's first gold medal at the 2023 Pan Am Games in Santiago, Chile from 6 pm on Thursday when he races in the final of the men's sprint event.

In the semi-final one of the sprint events in Thursday's morning session at the Velodromo Penalolen, Paul showed off his blistering speed as he defeated Colombia's Kevin Quintero in back-to-back races to book his place in the final. In the best-of-three, head-to-head showdown, Paul took the first race in a time of 9.768 seconds. In the second ride, the defending Pan Am Games sprint champion clocked a time of 9.760 seconds as he finished a lengthy distance ahead of the Colombian rider.

On Wednesday, Paul broke the Pan Am Games sprint record when he clocked a rapid time of 9.574 seconds to finish atop the qualifying field. In the final, Paul will face his training partner, Jair Tjon En Fa. The Suriname cyclist dug deep to advance to the final as he mounted a solid comeback after losing the first of three rides to Canadian cyclist Nicholas Wammes.

In Wednesday's qualification ride, Wammes and Tjon En Fa advanced to the quarter-finals with the second and third-fastest times respectively. From 6 pm, Paul and Tjon En Fa will settle the score as they vie for the coveted gold medal.

Also in Thursday's morning session, TT rider Alexi Ramirez had a brilliant start to the women's omnium event, as she amassed a total of 40 points with her win in the scratch event – the first of four races in the omnium. Ramirez separated herself from the pack with about four laps to go, and she did not relent as she held on to take the top spot. The omnium event will conclude at approximately 6.38 pm on Thursday with the points race.

Ramirez copped a silver medal in the omnium event at the 2023 Elite Pan American Track Championships in San Juan, Argentina in June.