"We train at the Arima Velodrome, we train in the dark, and this is the product of people who train hard in the dark."
In a nutshell, this is how Trinidad and Tobago junior cycling team manager Fitzroy Daniel described their Pan American Junior Track Cycling Championships campaign, which saw them return home from the event with two gold medals and one bronze.
T&T's junior men, Kwesi Browne (team captain), Justin Roberts and Samuel Mahabir streaked to team sprint gold, while Aziza Browne and Jodi Goodridge also won the ladies sprint after qualifying first in the event.
Goodridge added bronze in the ladies 500m time trial event.
Daniel felt T&T held their own under stiff competition from 25 other countries.
"At the competition, when the guys rode, we were in second place after the qualifying round," he recalled. "An official came to me and said 'we need the national anthem and the flag'. At that point I didn't know (why). After we won the team sprint, he came back to me and said '…I asked for the national anthem and the flag because I knew you all were going to win'."
The ladies also gave a good account of themselves, Daniel added.
"Aziza came out flying in the final, and Colombia was out of it from the start," he said.
Browne (K) was also pleased with his team's performances, despite a few spills.
"I was really surprised by the effort that the youngsters showed," he said. "I believe that if we had a couple more days to prepare for the event, to acclimatise to the atmosphere, we would have done much better, (and) come back home with (many) more medals."
T&T Cycling Federation (TTCF) president Rowena Williams also lauded the young cyclists and their management team.
"We had great expectations in you all, and you did come through for us," she said, adding to the ladies team: "you all created history for us."
Williams also thanked the Ministry of Sport and Sport Company of T&T (SPORTT) for their financial support for the team, and told the riders more funding would come in "because of your achievements".
Source: www.trinidadexpress.com