21-year-old Phillip ready for battle with Kenny in men's sprint
The world may have tuned into the 100m final on the running track at the London Olympics, where Trinidad and Tobago finished seventh with Richard Thompson but the tiny island nation has little cycling history, especially at the Olympics Games. Today however, spectators will watch as the young Trinidad and Tobago sprinter goes up against Great Britain's Jason Kenny in the men's sprint.
Track cyclists from the country have competed at past Games but it would seem that Njisane Nicholas Phillip may be one of the country’s biggest hopes for the track in the coming years. The men’s sprint competitor is the sole track entrant at these Games and says "I feel like a VIP," according to The Associated Press.
Phillip has progressed into the semi finals of the individual sprint where he will come up against current Olympic recorder holder and Great Britain's gold medal hope, Jason Kenny. The young rider came up against the now popular German Robert Forstermann who, thanks to a photo on Twitter, has become one of the sport’s most recognised sprinters - at least concerning his quad muscle size.
Despite a lacking in funding from his country’s federation, which focuses its resources on the track and field, Phillip's has been able to receive the kind of high performance training necessary for him to be a real force at these Games. There is a joint agreement with the United States which has meant that some of Phillip’s time has been spent with US Cycling’s track coach Jamie Staff.
"He's a very, very talented kid, just raw talent," Staff said. "The tactics just come naturally."
"He's a racer, I know what he's capable of and some days in training I'll be like, 'What was that?!"
While Phillip is unlikely to beat the former world champion Kenny in the semi finals, his biggest goal - making it to the Games - has already been achieved.
"I've already made it here, so I'm happy with that," he said.
- By: Cycling News
- Source: www.cyclingnews.com
A man has been arrested after a bottle was thrown on to the track seconds before the start of the men's 100 metres final at the Olympic Stadium.
There is no doubt that Ian Sharpe the T&T Olympic team physiotherapist is a big man. In fact in certain circles, you would describe him as a giant and given his continual influence on the health and welfare of the team in London, this is a man whose knowledge and intelligence has to be respected. So after an exhilarating performance from Njisane Phillips in the quarter finals of the cycling match sprint yesterday, Sharpe who was at the Cycling Velodrome, explained that he had not seen any athlete in recent time with the same recovery instincts as Phillips. “He is a different kind of athlete, the kind of special ones that do not take very long to recover. His appetite is quite good and strong and he seems to have a lot of strength, he can keep going.”
Jehue Gordon will try to settle his nerves today when he takes on the world’s best in the 400 metres hurdles final at the Olympics Games in London, England. “I know T&T is behind me 100 percent. I just want to thank them for the support,” said Gordon ahead of his first Olympic final which will be at 8.45 pm (3.45 pm T&T time) at Olympic Stadium. “I am going to again concentrate on my lane and have fun.” In his first appearance at the premier sporting event, the 2010 world junior champion qualified for the final, clocking a personal and season’s best time of 47.96 seconds, to break the national record. Gordon lines up against USA’s T&T-born Kerron Clement, who joined American Edwin Moses and Dominican Republic’s Felix Sanchez in 2009 as the only men ever to win the world 400m hurdles title twice, with all three accomplishing the feat in consecutive years.
Trinidad and Tobago's Njisane Phillip made a major breakthrough at the Velodrome, here in London, England, yesterday, beating Russia's Denis Dmitriev in two straight rides to reach the Olympic Games men's sprint semi-final.