Phillip Watts, the Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs, celebrated the recent success of the 11-member T&T cycling team at the recently concluded Pan American Track Championship in Santiago, Chile, earlier this month, February (16-22) 2026, at a function held at the VIP Lounge, Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo on Friday.
In Chile, cyclist Nicholas Paul won gold medals in both the men’s keirin and match sprint events, while Teniel Campbell rode to gold as well in the women’s scratch race, while her brother Akil Campbell added bronze in both the men’s scratch race and elimination race, and the team of Paul, Kwesi Browne and Zion Pulido won bronze in the men’s team sprint.
Reflecting on the team’s showing, Watts said, “Your dedication, discipline and hard work have once again lifted our flag high for the world to see. You have made us all proud; bringing home six medals – three gold and three bronze – is no small accomplishment. It speaks volumes about your talent, your teamwork and your drive to be the best.
Watts also recognised the coaches, management team and the officials of the T&T Cycling Federation saying, “Your guidance and commitment are the backbone of this success. Behind every great athlete is a team of people pushing, supporting and believing, and today you all share in this vision.
T&TCF President Rowena Williams noted that the team’s achievement would not have happened without the support from the Ministry of Sport in having the team represent us so proudly.”
Williams said, “I know it was a challenge just to get the funding. I know the economy, and we always have to be battling to get funding, but this is important for us, and the importance of it I know the athletes will see. How important it is for them to go out there because not just representing T&T is something they want to do, but career-wise they have their own aspirations, they have their own goals, they want to represent us at the Olympics, and they want to come home with that Olympic gold. But there’s a pathway; there’s the pathway, and this is the pathway starting here from the Pan Ams and moving forward into 2028.
“So it was important for them to perform at their best to do what they did to be able to make that next step forward,’ she ended’
A multiple Pan American Track Championship sprint champion, Paul, in his brief address to the audience on behalf of the team, noted that it is always a pleasure for them to go out there and represent T&T to put the red, white and black on the map.
He added, “For me it’s always a great feeling, and I could say on behalf of myself and the team that I want to wish T&T well and to tell them thanks.
“I think that’s the message I want to bring forward because I mean, without you all and all the support that you give us, it wouldn’t be as memorable as it is because we could go out there and put our twin island on the map, and I think for myself and the team as well, when we go out there and represent as well as we did, I think it’s always a great feeling, so I just want to say thanks to each and every one for coming out here today and for always supporting us.”
The soft-spoken Campbell (T) added, “The experience out there for me, we all know that I love to win.
“Unfortunately I only came back with one goal. I wanted two more, but it did not happen, and I also wanted us to medal in the Madison event, but it did not happen, and you know sometimes that’s just how it goes, and we just take experiences from that and learn from it in order to grow towards the other competitions.
“For me it was also really nice to see the endurance side of the programme grow. We had the men’s team pursuit, and we actually had quite a lot of endurance cyclists at this Pan American Championship.
“Kudos to my brother (Akil Campbell) for being back on the podium, as he won his two bronzes, and I know my success also drives him and pushes him forward because your sister can’t always be, you know, on top for you all the time.”
“So it’s good that he finally got his own and you know (16:13) is back on track to achieve his desires in the sports. Other than that, I mean, we can only look ahead, and it would be nice to see a sustainable, you know, environment.
More staff on hand. I mean, it was a really big team out there, you know, to keep things smoother, and who knows, maybe more medals will come in, and to have things more, you know, professionally organised, and yeah, see what the future holds. Thank you.
Akil Campbell, in his brief address, said, ‘As Nicholas and my sister said, we just want to thank you guys for always supporting us. It always goes really far when we have the support of the country behind us, and we just want to say thank you again.
He added, “The experience out there for me wasn’t the best, and it wasn’t the worst.”
“There were a lot of complications with the team out there, but we did well to manage them, and we were able to perform under the circumstances.
