War over wheels

THERE is an ongoing “war over wheels” between national cycling technical director and coach Erin Hartwell and two-time Olympic cyclist Njisane Phillip.

Five new Mavic wheels, valued at US$15,600, were taken from the National Cycling Velodrome, Couva on December 23, 2019. According to a letter written to the TT Cycling Federation (TTCF) by Hartwell, Phillip was told explicitly not to take the wheels (two rear disks, two front disks and an iO five spoke) as it was “the property and assets of the TTCF procured for the national team through the Sports and Culture Fund grant.”

Phillip, in a December 24 letter to TTCF general secretary Jacqui Corbin, racing chairman Joseph Roberts and the Office of the Prime Minister’s Sport and Culture Fund, did not deny taking the wheels but said he would be using three of the wheels to train for the 2024 Olympic campaign. He added that for the last two years the national team has used and destroyed five of his personal wheels to train and compete and he has not been compensated.

Hartwell, giving his account of what transpired on December 23 to TTCF said, “I repeatedly told him (Phillip) that he was not allowed to take the wheels from the National Cycling Centre without approval from the TTCF. He proceeded to open the boxes containing the new equipment and take five of the wheels into his possession. I continued to inform him that the wheels are not his property and that I will have to report this as theft to the Sports Company and TTCF. He ignored my repeated direct order not to take the equipment.”

Newsday contacted SporTT chief executive officer, Jason Williams, on Tuesday, for a comment on this matter and he abruptly responded, “First to begin with, that is not Sport Company’s equipment and that is a matter that is being dealt with at the cycling federation level and I have no comment on that.”

Phillip’s letter explaining his actions said, “I do indeed intend to continue to train myself as an athlete for TT as a cyclist (2024 Olympic campaign) using the equipment purchased for our use and as such I have taken three wheels for this purpose. Please bear in mind that all the wheels that the national team has used for training and competition over the last two years have been my personal property. Five wheels have been destroyed during this time without any reimbursement to myself.”

The other two wheels taken were given by Phillip, to compatriot Keron Bramble. Bramble issued a letter to the same recipients on the same date, claiming he would also put the new Mavic wheels to use in preparation for the 2024 Olympics.

“I have been borrowing wheels from Njisane Phillip over the last two years but unfortunately, I had a crash during a race previously which left them destroyed. I do indeed intend to continue to train myself as an athlete for TT as a cyclist (2024 Olympic campaign) using the equipment purchased for the use of the national athletes and as such I have taken two wheels for my training purposes,” Bramble’s statement read.

In response to Hartwell’s complaint and the statements by Phillip and Bramble, racing secretary Rowena Williams, confirmed receipt of the SporTT representative’s documents but admitted she did not receive any such statements from either cyclist.

According to Williams, the TTCF is currently organising a meeting with the three parties to find a quick resolve.

“I have never received anything from Bramble and Njisane, only from Mr Hartwell. We will have to meet with the parties, as is natural justice, we have to meet and discuss the situation – soon. The TTCF never put out anything (information on this matter). That’s an internal issue. There is no statement to make, we got an issue from the coach and it will be dealt with,” she said.

Williams declined to reveal when Hartwell sent his letter to TTCF.