Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 27/Oct 05:10

Paul misses Track World Championship medal

Ace cyclist Nicholas Paul missed out on his third consecutive capture of a Track World Championships medal after finishing an agonising fourth in the men’s sprint on the final day in Santiago, Chile, on October 26. Paul’s exit meant Trinidad and Tobago rode away from the meet without a medal this year. It is in contrast to the last two editions when Paul sizzled with silver in the 1km time trial (2021) and sprint (2023) events. After advancing to the semis on October 25, Paul, ranked fourth on the International Cycling Union individual sprint standings, suited up against the globe’s fastest on two wheels, Dutch speedster Harrie Lavreysen. Paul put up a fight across the two semi-final races, but Lavreysen proved superior and defeated the TT cyclist in consecutive rides. Englishman Matthew Richardson also blew past Australian Leigh Hoffman in the other semi, setting up a bronze-medal race between Paul and Hoffman. In the the penultimate lap of the first race, Hoffman took a slim lead before Paul pedalled furiously to catch him. Paul did get ahead of the Aussie by a slim margin on the outside lane as they crossed the line for the final lap. However, Hoffman maintained his position in the sprint lane and was able to stave off Paul’s final charge to go one-up. It was a similar setting in the second race, but this time, Paul did not get a chance to go ahead of Hoffman, and the Australian rider capitalised on his advantage to sail home and to the bronze medal. Lavreysen showed his class once more in the gold-medal race as he made light work of Richardson to claim top honours, while the Englishman settled for silver. In the women’s keirin, World Champs debutant Makaira Wallace was unable to advance to second round. After placing fourth in heat two of six in the first round, Wallace was forced to contest the repechage for a final chance of securing a spot in the next stage. Needing a win to advance, she placed fifth in heat three of three and was eliminated. TT’s endurance rider Akil Campbell was the ninth cyclist to be ousted in the men’s elimination race, which saw him finish 16th. His sibling Teniel, however, was unable to finish the women’s points race. Teniel’s exit brought an end to TT’s World Champs campaign which saw Paul place seventh in the keirin, 12th in the 1km time trial and fourth in the sprints. Wallace made her debut at this level while out-of-retirement Njisane Phillip also rolled back the years with his appearance in the sprint and keirin events. The post Paul misses Track World Championship medal appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.