[UPDATED] Paul exits keirin, Trinidad and Tobago end Olympics empty-handed

For the second consecutive Olympics, Trinidad and Tobago have ended empty-handed. Cyclist Nicholas Paul, TT's final crack at a medal in Paris, failed to advance past the keirin quarterfinals on August 11.

Paul placed fifth in heat two which was won by reigning Olympic sprint gold medallist Harry Lavreysen of Netherlands. Only the top four in each of the three heats progressed to the semifinals.

Paul's compatriot Kwesi Browne crashed out of the repechage on August 10.

Lavreysen later went on to claim gold in the final, his third in Paris after the Dutchmen won the team sprint.

The story below with the headline 'Trinidad and Tobago's cyclist Nicholas Paul in quarterfinals: Our last hope in Paris' was updated to include additional details.

FROM 5.29 am (Trinidad and Tobago time) on August 11, the hopes and expectations of a population of 1.4 million people will rest on the shoulders of cyclist Nicholas Paul when he contests the quarterfinals of the men's keirin event at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome on the final day of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

On August 10, Paul, the former record holder in the 200m flying sprint event, comfortably advanced to the keirin quarterfinals after easing to victory in the fifth and final heat in the preliminary round. With the top two cyclists in each heat advancing to the quarterfinals, Paul showed his class in the six-lap event as he assumed the lead with roughly two laps to go and used his world-class sprint speed to hold off the chasing pack in the last lap. Poland's Mateusz Rudyk finished 0.023 seconds behind Paul to grab second spot and advance to the quarterfinals.

Though renowned for his prowess in his pet sprint event, Paul has shown his appetite for success in the keirin event as well, claiming a gold medal at the Pan American Track Cycling Championships in the keirin back in April. Paul also grabbed Pan Am silver in the keirin in 2023.

In addition to breaking the then-flying sprint world record back in 2019, Paul boasts of multiple gold medals in the sprint event at the Pan Am Games, to go along with a 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medal in the keirin. The latter feat ended a 52-year medal drought for Trinidad and Tobago in cycling at the Commonwealth Games.

At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Paul finished sixth in the sprint event after falling to a controversial loss to Russia's Denis Dmitriev in their quarterfinal matchup. Paul's hopes of redemption in the sprint event in Paris were dashed on August 7, when he was knocked out in the repechage round of the 1/8 finals.

The 25-year-old Gasparillo rider will get the chance to make amends when he faces the starters in the second of three keirin quarterfinals, though. With four riders from each quarterfinal advancing to the semifinals, Paul will duel against Japan's Shinji Nakano, Colombia's Cristian Ortega, Britain's Hamish Turnbull, Canada's Nick Wammes and Dutch phenom Harrie Lavreysen, who claimed the flying sprint title in Paris on August 9. At these games, Lavreysen has also copped team sprint gold with the Dutch team and is the new owner of the flying sprint world record. The semis of the keirin will cycle off from 6.29 am, with the final scheduled for 7.23 am.

Browne in 'nasty' fall

Paul will be on a quest for this country's first-ever cycling medal at the Olympics, but he won't have the company of his compatriot Kwesi Browne who suffered a dangerous crash in the keirin repechage on August 10 – thus missing out on a quarterfinal spot.

In the first round, Browne finished just outside of the top two automatic qualifying spots when he placed third behind Israel's Mikhail Yakovlev and Colombia's Kevin Quintero in heat four. In the fourth and final repechage heat, Browne attempted to lead from the front, but he was boxed in with a couple of laps to go after being surpassed by his competitors.

As the bell sounded for the final lap, Browne had a nasty crash just as he tried to initiate his sprint phase. Browne appeared to receive a nudge from the cyclist to his left, Kazakhstan's Andrey Chugay, before hitting the back wheel of Colombian cyclist Christian Ortega and falling off his bike. There was great concern from the spectators in the velodrome, with Browne eventually being taken off the track on a stretcher as he gave a thumbs up to the crowd.

With the top two riders from each repechage heat advancing to the quarterfinals, Canada's James Hedgcock and Ortega progressed to the next round.

Trinidad and Tobago Cycling Federation (TTCF) president Rowena Williams said Browne was "fine" after the crash.

"The medical team here at the velodrome did a wonderful job taking care of Kwesi," Williams said, in a video posted by the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee.

"He did some quick X-rays to make sure there were no broken bones or major injuries to his head. Kwesi is fine. He's walking and talking. "We just want to continue to thank everybody for their support, and to continue to support Nicholas as he goes through to the (keirin) final."

The 2024 Paris Olympics has been a mixed bag for the 17-member Trinidad and Tobago contingent, with the performances of Jereem Richards in the men's 400-metre final and Keshorn Walcott in the men's javelin final event being the highlights thus far.

Richards placed an agonising fourth in the 400m final on August 7 to set a new national record of 43.78 seconds – eclipsing the 44.01 mark which was set by Machel Cedenio at the Rio 2016 Olympics. Richards received praise from many quarters, with the Prime Minister, Sport and Community Development Minister Shamfa Cudjoe-Lewis, Trinidad and Tobago's first female Olympian Laura Pierre and four-time Olympic medallist Ato Boldon among those who congratulated Richards on his run.

In the javelin final on August 8, Walcott, the London 2012 javelin champion, threw a distance of 86.16 metres to finish seventh in a 12-man field. It was Walcott's biggest throw in two years and capped off his return from a season-ending Achilles injury at the World Championships in Hungary last year.

Richards and Walcott are the only two Trinidad and Tobago representatives to make the finals of their events thus far.

In Paul, Trinidad and Tobago have one last hope of qualifying for a final and potentially obtaining a podium finish in Paris. When Paul exits the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome, he'll hope to be walking away with new Olympic silverware.