Yohance Simonette
HOURS after breaking the Pan American team sprint record and their own national record, team TTO’s Keron Bramble, Njisane Phillip and Nicholas Paul repeated the feat in emphatic style, last evening, breaking the barrier en route to the men’s team sprint gold medal at the Elite Pan American Track Cycling Championship, in Cochabamba,Bolivia.
The team, having been expected to face a stiffer challenge given the high altitude of the host nation, once again performed above and beyond expectations, clocking 41.938 seconds – the second fastest on record – in their second race, to defend their gold medal.
Argentina offered little challenge, trailing well behind to take silver in 44.474 seconds. Ecuador took bronze in the preceding third-place race in 45.260 seconds, followed by Chile in 46.062 seconds.
TTO’s mark was agonisingly shy of the 41.871-second world record set by Germany at the World Cup in 2013.
The Erin Hartwell-coached TTO cyclists gave a glimpse of what was to come earlier in the day, having broken the national record in 42.395 seconds
to finish well ahead of runner-up and finalists Argentina (44.598 seconds), before putting on the performance of a lifetime in their final, which followed an opening ceremony.
Early last month, the same three cyclists teamed up in the men’s team sprint final at the Pan American Games in Peru, where they won gold in 43.972 seconds.
Another national cyclist, Akil Campbell was in action in the men’s scratch (15km) final, which concluded after press time.
The other male TTO cyclists, Kwesi Browne and Quincy Alexander, as well as the lone female representative, Domonique Lovell, will be in action today. Lovell will challenge the women’s 500m, individual sprint and keirin events. Bramble and Browne will spearhead TT’s challenge in the men’s keirin this morning. The competition concludes tomorrow.
This story was originally published with the title “Elite Pan Am cycling gold, record for TT” and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.
TT’s sprint cyclists broke a record again a short while ago, clocking the world’s second fastest time in the men’s team sprint, at the Elite Pan American Track Cycling Championship, in Bolvia. Team TTO’s Keron Bramble, Njisane Phillip and Nicholas Paul won Elite Pan Am gold after breaking the Pan American team sprint record earlier this afternoon. The trio,however, broke record again this evening sealing gold in 41.938 seconds to defend their gold medal .
The team, dominated the competition in the earlier preliminary race, clocking their best ever time, 42.395 seconds, finishing well ahead of runner-up and finalists Argentina (44.598 seconds)
This evening, just after the opening ceremony, they gave a performance of a lifetime, edging that much closer to the world record of 41.871 seconds set by Germany in 2013. See report in tomorrow’s Newsday.
Yohance Simonette
