Rowley lauds cyclist Nicholas Paul’s Pan Am success

THE Prime Minister has joined in on the heaping praise for Trinidad and Tobago Olympian Nicholas Paul, who added another stellar feat to his glistening career, winning a pair of medals at the Pan American Games in Chile between Thursday and Friday.

PM Dr Keith Rowley posted to his Facebook page on Saturday: “Congratulations to cyclist Nicholas Paul for securing the gold medal in the Men’s Sprint cycling event and claiming the silver medal in the Men’s Keirin event at the 2023 Pan American Games held in Santiago, Chile.”

Paul won gold in the men’s sprint event at the Velodromo Penalolen, Santiago, on Thursday, defeating Suriname’s Tjon En Fa in both rides.

The Gasparillo native qualified after clocking 9.574 seconds on Wednesday to secure a new Pan Am Games record.

On Friday, Paul won his second medal, a silver in the men’s keirin after trailing the pack for most of that final.

Paul’s silver medal was TT’s third overall for the Pan American Games, after TTO’s 3x3 basketball team earned a far more unexpected bronze medal, beating Venezuela 21-20 in their final match. It followed similarly surprising wins over the Dominican Republic and even more so Brazil in the earlier rounds.

Paul, 25, won a gold medal in the sprint at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, and a gold medal in the keirin at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, UK.