Nicholas Paul primed for TTOC's sportsman of the year award

CYCLIST Nicholas Paul is set to snatch the sportsman of the year award from track and field star Jereem Richards when the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee Annual awards are held at the Hyatt Regency in Port of Spain at 6 pm on Friday.

Trinidad and Tobago cyclist Paul, 25, had one of his most memorable years on the track with the highlight being at the 2023 International Cycling Union World Track Championships in Glasgow, Scotland in August.

Paul, who is the world record holder in the individual men's sprint, earned silver.

Paul had his hands full in the final as he was up against Olympic champion Harrie Lavreysen. Lavreysen defeated Paul in two consecutive rides to win his fifth straight World Championship title.

It was Paul's second World Championship silver after copping second spot in the 1K time trial event in 2021. That same year Paul took home the Sportsman of the Year prize.

Later in 2023, Paul showed his class at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile.

He defended the sprint title he won at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru and also bagged silver in the men's keirin.

Richards, 29, and Paul have been duking it out for the Sportsman of the Year award over the past few years.

Richards, who copped the award in 2022, did not get the podium finishes he would have wanted at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary in August.

He just missed out on a place in the final of the 400m event after finishing in 44.76 seconds in his semi-final race.

In the 4x400m heats, Richards and his teammates did not advance past the heats.

In July, prior to the World Championships, Richards grabbed two gold medals at the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador, El Salvador.

He clocked 44.54 to win the 400m event and in the men's 4x400-metre relay alongside Machel Cedenio, Renny Quow and Che Lara, took first place in three minutes, 01.99 seconds.

TT swimmer Dylan Carter, 27, continues to perform consistently. At the CAC Games, Carter swam his way to five medals. He won gold medals in the 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle and 50m butterfly events. In the 50m and 100m freestyle events he broke the games record.

In the 50m backstroke, he took silver and in the 4x100m freestyle, he snatched bronze alongside Graham Chatoor, Nikoli Blackman and Zarek Wilson.

Carter also won medals at other international meets including at the 2023 Jalisco International Swimming Cup in Mexico and at the 2023 TYR Pro Swim Series in Ft Lauderdale, US.