Sports
Roneil Walcott
Promising female cyclist Makaira Wallace earned Trinidad and Tobago’s first piece of silverware at the Bolivarian Games in Ayacucho-Lima, Peru, on December 1 when she placed third in the women’s keirin final.
In her classification ride, Wallace placed second behind Colombian cyclist Juliana Rendon at the Costa Verde Pan-American Complex, Lima and secured her place in the final. The other classification race was won by impressive Colombian cyclist Stefany Cuadrado.
In the six-woman field for the final, Cuadrado was again a tough opponent to overcome as she won gold ahead of Venezuela’s Jalymar Rodriguez, with Wallace sprinting over the line to ensure her spot on the podium as she bagged bronze.
On December 2, Wallace was back at it as she surged into the quarterfinals of the women’s sprint event after finishing with the third-best time from the qualification round. The impressive Cuadrado led qualifying with a time of 10.722 seconds, with her countrywoman Luna Alvarez (11.238s) registering the next-best time. Wallace clocked a time of 11.273s and finished the qualifying phase ahead of Chile’s Paola Munoz (11.565s) and Paula Molina (11.781s). In the evening session on December 2, Wallace will aim to continue her fine form in Peru when she takes on Venezuela’s Carleany Martinez in the third sprint quarterfinal. Martinez had the sixth-best time in qualifying as she pedalled to a time of 11.802s.
Also in action in the evening session on December 2 will be ace cyclist Nicholas Paul, who sped his way into the men’s sprint final after navigating the earlier rounds on December 1 and 2, respectively. In qualifying, Paul was at his speedy best as he clocked the fastest time (9.686s), with the Colombian pair of Cristian Ortega (9.955s) and Kevin Quintero (9.997s) clocking the next-best times. In the quarterfinal, Paul got the better of Chile’s Robert Castillo, with Ortega, Quintero and Venezuela’s Alberto Torres also making their way into the semis.
In the subsequent semis on December 2, Paul was adjudged the winner against Torres, who was disqualified, while Quintero got past Ortega. From approximately 7 pm on December 2, Quintero will be the only person in Paul’s way as he tries to land Bolivarian Games gold for Team TTO.
