CYCLIST Nicholas Paul and track and field athlete Michelle-Lee Ahye are the TT Olympic Committee (TTOC) 2023 Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year winners respectively. The announcements were made at the 29th Annual TTOC Award ceremony at Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain on Friday night.
It was Paul's third TTOC Sportsman of the Year award after winning the prize in 2019 and 2021.
Paul, 25, had a memorable year on the track with the highlight being at the 2023 International Cycling Union World Track Championships in Glasgow, Scotland in August.
[caption id="attachment_1052948" align="alignnone" width="767"] TTOC Sportswoman of the Year Michelle-Lee Ahye, right, with cyclist and feature speaker Teniel Campbell at the TTOC awards, at Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain on Friday. - ROGER JACOB[/caption]
Paul, who is the world record holder in the individual men's sprint, earned a historic silver.
He had his hands full in the final as he was up against Olympic champion Harrie Lavreysen, who prevailed in consecutive rides to win his fifth straight World Championship title.
It was Paul's second World Championship silver after copping second spot in the 1K time trial event in 2021. That same year Paul took home the Sportsman of the Year prize.
Later in 2023, Paul showed his class at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile.
He defended the sprint title he won at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru and also bagged silver in the men's keirin.
Sprinter Jereem Richards, 29, won the sportsman of the year award for 2022.
Ahye, 31, who last won the Sportswoman of the Year award in 2021, was given the nod ahead of road cyclist Teniel Campbell.
[caption id="attachment_1052950" align="alignnone" width="597"] TTOC Alexander B Chapman Award 2023 winner Lorraine Boland Van Druten. - ROGER JACOB[/caption]
One of the best moments of 2023 for Ahye was at the Pan American Games where she grabbed bronze in the women's 100-metre event in 11.53 seconds. Ahye was the only TT track and field athlete to win a medal in Chile.
It was Ahye's second Pan Am medal after copping silver at the 2019 edition in Lima, Peru.
Ahye is still TT's most elite women's sprinter and has dominated in local meets.
In 2023, Campbell became the first black woman to complete the Tour De France Femmes. She rode 960km over eight days during the event. Campbell was brought to tears during the feature address on Friday, recalling all the injuries she had to endure during the year.
It was no surprise that swimmer Nikoli Blackman won the junior sportsman of the year award.
Blackman, 18, splashed his way to a gold medal in the men's 50-metre freestyle event at the World Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships 2023 in Netanya, Israel in September.
Weeks before the World Junior Championships, Blackman thrilled his home supporters at the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games held in TT.
At the National Aquatic Centre in Couva, Blackman copped three gold medals as he ended the meet as TT's best athlete.
The junior sportswoman of the year award went
