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Nicholas Paul, one of Trinidad and Tobago’s most promising Olympic medal hopefuls, did not advance to the men’s sprint quarter-finals at the National Velodrome in Paris on August 7.
After losing by four-thousandths of a second to three-time Olympic medallist, Englishman Jack Carlin, in the 1/8 finals, Paul had to contest the 1/8 repechage against Australian speedster Leigh Hoffman and Japanese Yuta Obara.
With the winner only progressing to the August 8 quarter-final round, Paul placed third and was eliminated, with Obara – whom Paul had beaten in the1/32 round – winning the repechage and advancing.
From the get-go, Hoffman pedalled ahead of the pair, with Obara in second and Paul trailing. However, as the race progressed Paul surprisingly lay back. Hoofman, realising he could open up a gap between him at the top and a somewhat distant Paul, did just that.
As Hoffman launched an early sprint, Obara reacted faster and kept close to the Australian, so Paul had much work to do.
When the bell for the final lap rang, Paul was still lengths behind as Obara and Hoffman challenged for the lone quarter-final spot. In the end, Obara pipped Hoffman on the line to seal his place in final eight, and Paul wasa third.
In the opening round of sprint qualifying earlier on, Paul advanced as the seventh fastest qualifier (9.371s) in the flying 200m after Australian Matthew Richardson (9.091s) and reigning Olympic sprint champion Harrie Lavreysen (9.088s) broke Paul’s world record in this event.
In the 1/32 finals, Paul left it late against Obara and edged him on the line for the win. He then defeated another Japanese cyclist, Kaiya Ota, in the 1/16 final, which set him up against Carlin in the 1/8 final.
Paul and fellow TT rider Kwesi Browne return to the National Velodrome track on August 10 for the opening round of men’s keirin qualification.
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