Circling like a vulture stalking its prey is part of his daily routine — riding at the top of the impossibly steep banking on the velodrome’s smooth wooden surface, before suddenly accelerating his carbon fibre steed down the slope. By the time he hits the finish line some 250 metres later, his bike will be doing over 60 kilometres per hour.
His compact five-foot-seven-inch frame belies the fact that such power comes from this body; his records and medals state otherwise.
Having crossed the finish line, he’ll recover and return to the top of the track, ready to turn himself inside out all over again in the continued quest to be the best.
If these repeat efforts seem like purgatory, consider that his day began with numerous leg-aching, 500-pound squats in the gym, followed by addressing the mental side of his chosen discipline with tactical review sessions.
When the day has ended, it’s time for a stretch, a meal, and rest. Tomorrow, he will do it all again.
Nicholas Paul is an easy-going 24-year-old. His smile brings Caribbean warmth to the UCI (Union Cycliste International) World Cycling Centre in Switzerland, which serves as his base for 11 months of the year.
There is none of the pomposity associated with the fast men in sport (think of the antics of so many 100-metre sprinters in athletics). Nor is there any finger-waving or chest-thumping once he has beaten his opponents. Instead, he remains true to his core personality — one where an aura of calm surrounds him.
Raw, explosive speed and humility seldom exist together, but somehow Paul makes it look seamless. Over the final metres of a race, his aggression is on full display. His willingness to use the full width of the velodrome to push his rivals to their limit is a nod to the sprinting style of yesteryear, before more stringent rules made the simplicity of man-versus-man sprinting a more sterile affair. As such, he has become a crowd favourite wherever he competes in track cycling’s globe-trotting events.
It’s a boon for a sport seeking greater diversity and diversification. Paul represents the perfect vehicle to push the agenda. When track cycling launched its winter Champions League in 2021, he was rolled out as one of the faces of the series — including a documentary that showcased that unassuming personality and unending drive, as well as the camaraderie that he shares with fellow UCI Centre residents from across the globe.
It was also a reminder of how far the man from Gasparillo — a town of just over 16,000 in southern Trinidad — has come in a short space of time. But then again, it’s no surprise — speed dominates all aspects of his life.
It began with an injury while playing football for his secondary school, Naparima College. He then ventured to the gentle banking of Skinner Park to cycle so he could maintain fitness. Keen eyes noted his natural speed. He trained under the tutelage of coach Anthony Sellier, who then took the speedster to the next level.
This was the perfect preparation for Paul winning the sprint event at the Junior Pan Am Championships on Trinidad & Tobago’s Independence Day (31 August) in 2016 — in front of his home crowd, and at the country’s brand new, world-class velodrome.
The UCI took notice, and invited him to live and train in Switzerland. Since then, the only time Paul has looked back is over his shoulder at his opponents.
“I love it here,” he confirms. “You eat, sleep, and ride, focus fully on training without worrying about anything else outside of your performance. I miss my family and they miss me. That’s the hardest part — missing my family, friends … and the food.”
By 2019, his gold medals were piling up: three from the Central American & Caribbean Games and another from the Pan Am Games. He then stamped his authority on the sport with a world record ride of 9.100 seconds in the flying 200 metres (at 79 kilometres per hour!) in the rarefied air of Bolivia.
Trinidad & Tobago has a lot of medals in its proud sporting history — golds that belie its size relative to its competitors. But world records? That’s another realm of excellence.
It meant that he went into his first Olympics in Tokyo as one of the favourites. But in the quarterfinals, he felt the judge’s wrath — being relegated for “dangerous riding” in a controversial decision.
Raw, explosive speed and humility seldom exist together, but somehow Paul makes it look seamless
Paul bounced back from the disappointment in the best possible manner, securing a silver medal in the one-kilometre time trial at the 2021 World Championships — T&T’s third Worlds medal, after Roger Gibbon and Gene Samuel.
Legacy is something of which he is acutely aware, as well as his ability to inspire. “One of my main goals is to pave the way for our youth, and not just cyclists … to help youth understand that if you work hard, anything is possible.”
After a scintillating 2021, 2022 was even better. His gold medal ride in the Commonwealth Games keirin was so good that the silver medallist — Scotland’s Jack Carlin — was several bike lengths behind. Paul completed the set with silver (sprint) and bronze (kilometre).
One of his favourite phrases is “the sky is the limit”, and just as it seemed that this was the case, his progress came crashing down when he fell during training, fracturing his collarbone and several ribs, and injuring his thumb.
The setback was significant, necessitating months off the bike, while the rest of the cycling world continued to compete. He returned to racing in March 2023 and, incredibly, was back to winning international competitions by April.
Paul always describes his journey to success as a “long road”, and knows that this is another one as he tackles the World Championships this August in Scotland, and defends his Pan Am Games sprint title in November in Chile.
He will be seeking confirmation of his return to the elite circle of the world’s best sprinters before the 2024 Olympics, eager for the chance of winning a second Olympic cycling medal for the Caribbean (after Jamaican David Weller’s bronze in 1980).
There is no shortage of vision from Paul.
“I’m still young, so I want to see where life takes me, and I’m enjoying the moment,” he says. “If this life takes me to Paris and Los Angeles [in 2028], I will never say no to it because I love cycling and I want to continue doing well …
“Every time I put on the red, white and black [T&T’s national colours], it makes me feel like I’m carrying Trinidad & Tobago on my back. I always put my best foot forward and just keep repping the red, white and black to the best of my ability.”
