National cycling trio Keron Bramble, Njisane Phillip and Kwesi Browne won gold in the men's team sprint event at the Milton International Challenge in Ontario, Canada, on Friday.
The T&T cyclists were on fire on the new track at the Mattamy Cycling Centre, which was hosting its first international meet. Bramble, Phillip and Browne blew their competitors away winning gold in a time of 46.356 seconds. T&T's time in the final was .554 seconds faster than its qualifying time, after the trio clocked 46.910.
Host team Canada, which included Joel Archambault, Evan Carey and Joakim Albert was a distant second in 47.617. Rounding off the top three was the Sprinters Edge team of Nate Coch, James Mellen and Edward Horvet in 48.239.
This is Browne's second medal in the past two months, after the T&T cyclist won bronze in the men's keirin at the Central American and Caribbean Games (CAC) in Mexico, last November. The men's sprint team is using the Milton International Challenge as preparation for the third leg of the UCI (International Cycling Union) Cycling World Cup in Cali, Colombia, on January 17 and 18.
The T&T women's sprint team of Aziza Browne and Jodi Goodridge could not repeat the success of their male counterparts, finishing fifth overall in a time of 37.949.
T&T's Keiana Lester couldn't get into the quarterfinals of the women's sprint on her first attempt after losing to American Danielle Mullins. Lester had a second chance to advance to the quarterfinal round when she lined up in the repechage round. Aziza Browne (T&T) wasn't able to get past newly crowned national Canadian champion Monique Sullivan in the early stages of the women's sprint, but got another chance to advance through the repechage round last night.
In the men's sprint, Phillip advanced to the semifinal to face Hugo Barette, another recently crowned national Canadian champion. Up to press time Browne (Kwesi) was in battle against Evans Carey (Canada) in the quarterfinals. Bramble lost to Phillip and failed to advance to the quarterfinals. Also representing T&T in Canada are Akil Campbell and Kollyn St George.
The cycling meet continued yesterday and concludes today.