Nicholas Paul into sprint semis at Pan Am cycling

ACE Trinidad and Tobago cyclist Nicholas Paul was still in contention for a medal in the men’s individual sprint up to press time last night at the 2024 Pan American Track Cycling Championships at the Velo Sports Centre in Los Angeles, California.

Paul, who won keirin gold on the night of April 4, continued to show his class. The world record holder in the sprint event, defeated Canadian Ryan Dodyk in heat one in two straight rides in the best out of three quarterfinal.

Jair Tjon En Fa of Suriname, who trains with Paul, won heat three in two rides over Colombian Kevin Santiago Quintero Chavarro to advance. Santiago Morales Ramirez of Colombia won heat four over Canadian Nick Wammes, also in two consecutive rides.

Another Colombian Cristian David Ortega Fontalvo competed in heat two against Canadian Tyler Rorke.

Fontalvo was made to work for the win, getting past Rorke in two of the three races to progress.

Paul was scheduled to face Ramirez in the first semi-final last night and En Fa battled against Fontalvo.

TT endurance cyclist Akil Campbell, who earned bronze in the men’s scratch race on April 4, started competing in the multiple race men’s omnium event.

In the 10K scratch race, Campbell was fifth among the 12 cyclists. In the second race of the omnium – the tempo race – Campbell was third. Canadian Chris Ernst and American Colby Lange were first and second respectively.

Last night, Campbell was carded to ride in the points race and the elimination race as the omnium continued.

In the women’s 500-metre time trial, the TT pair of Makaira Wallace and Phoebe Sandy did not advance past the qualification round.

Wallace finished ninth in 35.946 seconds and Sandy was 11th in 36.545. The top eight cyclists in the 14-woman field advanced. Colombian Martha Bayona Pineda had the fastest time among the qualifiers with a time of 33.832.

TT endurance rider Alexi Ramirez finished eighth in the women’s omnium, which included 11 cyclists. American Jennifer Valente won gold.