TT ace cyclist Nicholas Paul copped his second medal at the 2023 Pan Am Games in Santiago, Chile on Friday as he rode his way to silver in the final of the men's keirin event.
Paul, who won gold in the men's sprint event at the Velodromo Penalolen on Thursday, used his electric sprint speed in the final lap to power himself to second place, after falling behind the pack with a couple of laps remaining in the six-lap event. The keirin final was won by Colombia's Kevin Quintero - the world champion in the event. Mexico's Juan Ruiz Teran finished in third spot.
Earlier in heat two of the keirin event, Paul qualified for the final after finishing third behind Brazil's Joao Da Silva and his training partner Jair Tjon En Fa of Suriname.
On Thursday, Paul won TT's first gold medal at the 2023 games as he powered his way to the men's sprint title - defeating Tjon En Fa comfortably in back-to-back rides. On Wednesday, the 25-year-old Paul shattered the Pan Am Games record with a blistering time of 9.574 seconds in the men's sprint qualification race.
Paul's silver medal is TT's third medal at the ongoing Pan Am Games. TT's 3x3 men's basketball team earned a bronze medal in stunning fashion on Monday as they edged Venezuela by a 21-20 margin in their third-place match at the Estadio Espanol.
In men's field hockey at Centro Deportivo de Hockey Cesped on Friday, TT fell to their second loss in Group B play as they were defeated 2-1 by Brazil.
TT fell to a heavy 6-1 loss to the US on Wednesday, and despite their best efforts, they weren't quite able to overturn an early 2-0 deficit against the Brazilians. Brazil jumped out to a two-goal advantage inside the first six minutes thanks to field goals by Andre Patrocinio and Stephane Smith.
TT pulled a goal back in the third period through Mickell Pierre, but they were unable to breach the Brazil defence any further to mount a comeback.
The TT men play Canada in their final group B match on Sunday at 8.30 am.
The TT women will return to the hockey arena on Saturday when they meet Uruguay from 8.30 am in their second group A match. On Thursday, the TT women were on the end of a 15-0 drubbing from the US in their opening group match.
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