Paul blazes into Pan Am sprint quarters, eyes 2nd medal

FRESH from capturing gold in the men's keirin event at the 2024 Pan American Track Cycling Championships in Los Angeles, California on Thursday night, TT premier cyclist Nicholas Paul pedalled his way into the 1/4 finals in his pet sprint event in Friday's morning session.

In the 1/8 finals, the newly minted Pan Am keirin champion faced off with Argentina's Juan Rodriguez in the first heat and he showed his mettle to leave the South American cyclist in his wake to progress to the 1/4 finals.

Paul's teammate Kwesi Browne, who notched a bronze medal in the keirin final, lost to Canada's Tyler Rorke in the seventh 1/8 finals ride. The TT cyclist was also warned for dangerous riding during the race.

Earlier in the session, Paul, the 2023 Pan Am Games gold medallist, blazed the 27-man field when he advanced from the sprint qualifying races with a blistering 9.588-seconds ride to notch the fastest time heading into the 1/8 finals.

Browne (10.074 seconds) had advanced to the 1/8 finals with the tenth-best time, while TT's other sprint cyclist Quincy Alexander (10.632 seconds) finished 22nd overall and didn't advance to the 1/8 finals.

Paul will contest the sprint 1/4 finals in Saturday's morning session, while the semifinals and final will cycle off in Saturday's evening session.