[UPDATED] Trinidad and Tobago cyclists add more bronze medals to tally at Junior Pan Am

TT's cyclists ensured a fine end to the day at the 2025 Junior Pan American Games in Asuncion, Paraguay on August 12 when both the men's and women's teams captured team sprint bronze to take the country's medal tally at the games to three. All medals attained thus far are bronze as the TT quartet of Zachary Anthony, Nikoli Blackman, Johann-Matthew Matamoro and Zarek Wilson got the ball rolling at the games when they splashed to a third-place finish in the men's 4x100-metre freestyle final on August 10.

Two days on, Blackman and Zuri Ferguson again narrowly missed out on individual medals after finishing fourth and fifth in their respective men's 100m freestyle and women's 100m backstroke finals.

On the cycling track, though, the men's team of Ryan D'Abreau, Danell James and Jelani Nedd, as well as the women's team of Phoebe Sandy, Makaira Wallace and Kyra Williams, answered the call for Team TTO.

On both occasions, the TT cyclists bettered their Venezuelan counterparts to the south to seize third place. In the women's ride for bronze, TT clocked 50.145 seconds to edge the Venezuelans who clocked 51.622. Earlier, in qualifying, TT finished with the third-best time (50.541), with the Venezuelans clocking 51.840.

In the men's battle for bronze, TT sprinted to a time of 46.216 to turn back Venezuela who were timed at 47.307.

The impressive Colombians won both the men's and women's sprint team titles, with the latter team achieving a new Pan Am Junior record with a 48.595 clocking against Argentina.

At the Olympic Aquatic Centre, it turned out to be another frustrating evening for the pair of Blackman and Ferguson who battled valiantly but ultimately missed out on podium finishes in their finals.

In the men's 100m freestyle final, Blackman hit the wall fourth in 49.16, repeating his fourth-place finish in the 200m freestyle final on August 11. Swimming out of lane four, Brazil's Guilherme Caribe won the rapid final in a new Pan Am Junior record of 47.54. Mexico's Andres Dupont (48.14) and Bahamas' Lamar Taylor (48.51) also dipped under the previous record mark of 48.83 as they copped the silver and bronze medals respectively.

Earlier, Caribe (49.75) and Taylor (49.91) advanced to the final with the fastest times, while Blackman and Dupont held the joint third-fastest time at 49.94.

In the women's 100 backstroke final, Ferguson was fifth in one minute, 03.28 seconds (1:03.28). Mexico's Celia Pulido, who edged Ferguson to top spot in their heat earlier in the day, claimed backstroke gold in a record time of 1:00.82 – adding to her silver medal feat in the 200m backstroke the previous day. Argentina's Cecilia Dieleke (1:01.22) and Brazil's Julia Ferreira (1:02.82) placed second and third respectively.

Meanwhile, in the men's 100m B freestyle final, TT's Zarek Wilson placed third in 50.65. Argentina's Matias Santiso won the B final in 50.35, with Colombia's Frank Solano narrowly second in 50.36.

Also at the aquatic centre, Amari Ash placed third in heat two in the the women's 100m freestyle event in 1:02.35 – a time which placed her 35th overall. In the men's 100m backstroke, Johann-Matthew Matamoro placed fifth in heat one in 58.51. Matamoro's time was the 13th-best out of 23 competitors.

In the mixed 4x100m medley relay, the TT quartet of Ash, Matamoro, Zachary Anthony and Tyla Ho-A-Shu disappointingly brought up the rear in heat two in 4:16.73. Brazil won heat two in 4:00.63, with Argentina (3:56.47) progressing to the final with the fastest time after winning heat one.

In men's hockey, TT's young hockey stickmen earned a hard-fought 2-1 win in pool B when they edged Mexico at the National Hockey Centre. TT trailed 1-0 at the half after a goal from Jesahel Cuate. In the second half, though, TT found their groove with goals from Alexander Rowe and Adam Wyatt ensuring the comeback win.

TT will next play Canada from 7.30 am on August 14.

In tennis, Zachery Byng was unable to contend with Paraguay's Alex Nunez who got a comfortable 6-0, 6-0 victory in their round of 32 match.

TT's medal count:

Bronze

– Men's 4x100-metre freestyle (Zachary Anthony, Nikoli Blackman, Johann-Matthew Matamoro, Zarek Wilson)

– Men's cycling team sprint (Ryan D'Abreau, Danell James, Jelani Nedd)

– Women's cycling team sprint (Phoebe Sandy, Makaira Wallace and Kyra Williams)

This story was originally published with the title "Blackman tops men's 100m freestyle heat, hockey men edge Mexico 2-1" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

Trinidad and Tobago swimmer Nikoli Blackman continued his quest for an individual medal at the 2025 Junior Pan American Games in Asuncion, Paraguay on August 12 when he sped his way to the men's 100-metre freestyle A final at the Olympic Aquatic Centre.

Swimming in lane four in heat four, the University of Tennessee student showed his class as he pulled away from the field to win in a time of 49.94 seconds. Honduras' Gabriel Martinez placed second in heat four in 50.14, with Argentina's Matias Santiso third in 50.27. On August 11, Blackman was just edged by Santiso as the latter copped the bronze medal in the 200-metre freestyle final as the TT swimmer finished an agonising fourth.

From 4.09 pm on August 12, Blackman will face the starters in the final and will again have a fight on his hands for a medal as he enters the event with the joint-third fastest time.

The two fastest qualifiers for the final came from heat five which was won by Brazil's Guilherme Caribe in 49.75. Bahamas' Lamar Taylor was second in heat five in 49.91. Also in heat five, TT's Zarek Wilson clocked 50.40 to place fifth, but his time was only good enough to see him move on to the B final.

Mexico's Andres Dupont, who was victorious in heat three, had the same 49.94 clocking as Blackman.

In the women's 100m backstroke, Olympian Zuri Ferguson placed second in heat four in one minute, 03.72 seconds (1:03.72), with Mexico's Celia Pulido taking top spot in the heat in 1:02.90. In the women's 200m backstroke final a day earlier, Ferguson placed fourth while Pulido bagged the silver medal.

Ferguson's time was the sixth-fastest in the preliminary round, with Pulido registering the fastest time ahead of the final which will also be contested on August 12. Ferguson will swim out of lane seven in the final.

In the women's 100m freestyle, Amari Ash placed third in heat two in 1:02.35 – a time which placed her 35th overall. In the men's 100m backstroke, Johann-Matthew Matamoro placed fifth in heat one in 58.51. Matamoro's time was the 13th-best out of 23 competitors.

In the mixed 4x100m medley relay, the TT quartet of Ash, Matamoro, Zachary Anthony and Tyla Ho-A-Shu disappointingly brought up the rear in heat two in 4:16.73. Brazil won heat two in 4:00.63, with Argentina (3:56.47) progressing to the final with the fastest time after winning heat one.

In men's hockey, TT's young hockey stickmen earned a hard-fought 2-1 win in pool B when they edged Mexico at the National Hockey Centre. TT trailed 1-0 at the half after a goal from Jesahel Cuate. In the second half, though, TT found their groove with goals from Alexander Rowe and Adam Wyatt ensuring the comeback win.

TT will next play Canada from 7.30 am on August 14.

On the cycling track, both TT's men's and women's teams advanced to the bronze-medal ride after navigating the team sprint qualifying round. In the women's team sprint, the team of Phoebe Sandy, Makaira Wallace and Kyra Williams placed third in 50.541 seconds, with the Colombian team setting a new Pan Am Junior record with their ride of 49.200 – dipping under the previous mark of 49.480.

In the men's team sprint, the team of Ryan D'Abreau, Danell James and Jelani Nedd also finished third as they clocked 46.142. Again, Colombia showed their dominance as they qualified with the fastest time (45.280). Both teams will square off against Venezuela in a battle for the bronze medal on August 12.

In tennis, Zachery Byng was unable to contend with Paraguay's Alex Nunez who got a comfortable 6-0, 6-0 victory in their round of 32 match.

TT have earned one medal at the games so far – bronze in the men's 4x100m freestyle relay.