National cycling duo, Nicholas Paul and Teniel Campbell head the list of nominees short-listed for the 2019 First Citizens Sports Foundation Sports Awards 2019 and Hall of Fame Induction.
The First Citizens Sports Foundation will host its annual Sports Awards as well as its 2020 Hall of Fame Induction at the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA) Port-of-Spain on Saturday.
Last December, Paul and Campbell lifted the dark cloud hanging over the sport of cycling locally when they completed a clean sweep of the T&T Olympic Committee (T&TOC) “Sportsman of the Year” and “Sportswoman of Year” awards for their discipline at the body’s annual end of year awards ceremony Hyatt Regency in Port-of-Spain, on Sunday.
And the duo who have already qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games are expected to continue their winning trend at the annual sports awards function which will honour this country's top sporting performers of 2019.
The highlight of Paul’s very successful 2019 season was his new world record run in the Men’s Flying 200 metres, which he set at the Elite Pan American Track Cycling Championships in Cochabamba, Bolivia.
There, he lowered the record to 9.100 seconds, shaving 0.247 off the previous record set by Frenchman Francois Pervis in 2013. He also broke his own Pan American record of 9.378 seconds which he set in Mexico in 2018, and also took gold when he defeated Suriname’s Jair Tjon En Far in two rides in the final a day before with a blistering 9.583 time.
Paul, who kept his Pan Am Lima gold medal for the individual men’s sprint, was also named the TTOC’s ‘People’s Choice” awardee on the night.
Recently, Paul was also among the nominees for the first-ever Pan American Sports Awards in the “Best Male Athlete” category alongside Grenada’s Anderson Peters (athletics), Cuba’s Mijain Lopez (wrestling), Brazil’s Francisco Barretto (gymnastics) and Venezuela’s Ruben Limardo (fencing).
Paul's main contender for the Sportsman of the Year award among the 28 other nominees is former winner, sprinter Jereem Richards.
Meanwhile, Campbell topped off a brilliant 2019 by becoming T&T’s first-ever female cyclist to qualify for the Olympics. She was one of the stars for the T&T at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in July, where she copped four medals, including three bronze and a gold in the Scratch, Omnium, individual pursuit and the road races respectively.
At just 21 years old, Campbell also became the first double Caribbean Women’s Road Champion, CAC gold medallist and the first cyclist to receive the Hummingbird Medal (Silver) for her achievements in the sport.
In addition, Campbell also signed on for UCI Women’s Pro Cycling Team Valcar Cyclane, of Italy, for the 2020 competitive season.
The trio of Australian-based national netballer Samantha Wallace, sprinter Kelly-Ann Baptiste and cricketer Stacy-Ann King are the main rivals' to Campbell for the top award.
Among the Junior awards nominees, track starlet and T&TOC awardee Shaniqua Bascombe is a clear favourite among the girls, while Derron Douglas (table tennis) and Devin Augustine (athletics) lead the boys' field.
Last year, sprinters Jereem "The Dream" Richards and Michelle-Lee Ahye captured the top awards for the second consecutive year when the First Citizens Sports Foundation hosted its 56th annual function.
Their win marked the fourth consecutive year that athletics claimed the top honours in the senior category and also in the youth category where sprinter Shaniqua Bascombe was adjudged the youth "Sportswoman of the Year" and swimmer Kael Yorke, the youth "Sportsman of the Year".
The dynamic Ahye of Rebirth Club was crowned three years in a row, also winning the award in 2016, 2017 and got the hat-trick on Saturday.
Overall, the Sports Foundation will celebrate more than 100 of the nation’s top athletes at its annual Awards Ceremony and induct ten sporting icons into the Sports Hall of Fame.
The selection committee, headed by Chairman Dr Terry Ali and aided by sporting associations (through the nominations of athletes), has worked through an exhaustive and thorough process in deciding on the various nominations.
2019 Sports Awards nominees
Youth
Boys
Athletics: Devin Augustine
Automobile Sports: Shane Peter Sheppard
Badminton: Vance Juteram
Basketball: Jael Lewis
Amateur Boxing: Nyrell Hosein
Chess: Alan-Safar Ramoutar
Cricket: Justin Jagessar
Cycling: Enrique De Comarmond
Football: Jaiye Sheppard
Golf: Christopher Richards Jr
Hockey: Tarell Singh
Judo: Aidan Kai Judah Greaves
Karate: Christian Winter
Rugby Football: Jonathan George Taylor
Yachting: Luke Frankland
Squash: Seth Thong
Surfing: Omarion Butler
Swimming: Nathan Hinds
Table Tennis: Derron Douglas
Target Archery: Rahul Mahabir
Tennis: Luca Shamsi
Triathlon: Troy Llanos
Volleyball: Marley Davidson
Girls
Athletics: Shaniqua Bascombe
Automobile Sports: Naomi Jade Garcia
Badminton: Chequeda De Boulet
Basketball: Carrisa Ramdial
Amateur Boxing: Stephanie Lazar
Chess: Shemilah James
Football: Alexcia Ali
Hockey: Kaitlyn Olton
Judo: Gabrielle Seepersad
Karate: Michelle Lue Fatt
Netball: Kelelicia George
Rugby Football: Amartis Rachel Blessed Jawahir
Yachting: Savana Assam
Squash: Chloe Walcott
Surfing: Esther Hares
Swimming: Gabriella Donahue
Table Tennis: Priyanka Khellawan
Taekwondo: So'mora Knight
Target Archery: Shemariah Ali
Tennis: Cameron Wong
Triathlon: Rachel Grosberg
Volleyball: Shanice Cottoy
Women's Cricket: Steffie Soogrim
Men
Athletics: Jereem Richards
Automobile Sports: Franklyn Fabien Boodram
Badminton: Will Lee
Basketball: Johnny Hamilton
Body Building: Lee Beatrice
Amateur Boxing: Michaell Alexander
Canoe & Rowing: Nicholas Donovan Robinson
Chess: Alan-Safar Ramoutar
Cricket: Imran Khan
Cycling: Nicholas Paul
Football: Joevin Jones
Golf: Christopher Richards Sr
Horse Racing: Brian Boodramsingh
Hockey: Mickell Pierre
Judo: Tyrone Paul Charles
Karate: Shiva Sookdeo
Paralympic: Wilmana Akeem Stewart
Power Boat: Antonio Ali
Rugby Football: Shakeel Raden Dyte
Yachting: Andrew Lewis
Squash: Colin Ramasra
Surfing: Shane Henneman
Swimming: Dylan Josef Alexi Carter
Table Tennis: Aaron Junior Wilson
Taekwondo: Isaiah Pollard
Target Archery: Daniel Catariz-Ragbir
Tennis: Nabeel Mohammed
Triathlon: Jason Costelloe
Volleyball: Daynte Stewart
Women
Athletics: Kelly-Ann Baptiste
Automobile Sports: Allison Sarah Gajadhar
Badminton: Chequeda De Boulet
Basketball: Chervelle Tequana Cox
Body Building: Abeni Procope
Amateur Boxing: Tianna Guy
Canoe & Rowing: Felica Alisha Chow
Chess: Gabriella Johnson
Cycling: Teniel Campbell
Football: Kennya Cordner
Hockey: Brianna Govia
Judo: Christie Anna-Marie Modeste
Karate: Chennise Charles
Netball: Samantha Wallace
Paralympic: Nyoshia Cain-Claxton
Rugby Football: Leah Rachael Kintiba
Yachting: Kelly-Ann Mary Arrindell
Squash: Charlotte Knaggs
Swimming: Cherelle Ashley-Franka Thompson
Table Tennis: Rheann Jacinta Chung
Taekwondo: Megan Lawrence
Target Archery: Amanda Kendal-Brown
Tennis: Breana Stampfli
Triathlon: Jenna Ross
Volleyball: Kiune Fletcher
Women's Cricket: Stacy Ann King
Hall of Fame 2019 Nominees
Rev. Dr Iva Gloudon - Administration
Claude Noel - Boxing
Cheryl Ann Sankar - Taekwondo
Bertilel St Clair - Football Coach
George Bovell III - Swimming
Lester Osouna - Coach
Ralph Gosein (posthumous) - Cricket Umpire
Dexter St Louis (posthumous) - Table Tennis
David Farrell (posthumous) - Adminstrative Table Tennis, Basketbal
Dave Lamy (posthumous) - Sports Journalist