Article by Senior Sports Reporter: Mark Pouchet /Photos: Jermaine Cruickshank
FORMER NATIONAL cyclist Njisane Phillip stressed the importance of top-class athletes having their primary coaches with them at major competitions as he thanked the Colombian Cycling Federation for including him in their delegation.
On their return from the UCI Junior Track World Championships in China, yesterday, Phillip, a Pan Am Games silver and bronze medallist, intimated that his charge Makaira Wallace displayed resilience to bounce back from her first round exit after the women’s sprint qualifying rounds to cop two silver medals in the women’s 500-metre time-trial and the women’s keirin.
Phillip identified his role in guiding her through the disappointment of the women’s sprint -an event in which she broke the national record for the flying 200m in qualifying.
‘I want to thank the Colombian Federation for allowing me to be in China. I was not a delegate of the TTCF (Trinidad and Tobago Cycling Federation) so I really would like to thank them for allowing me to be there as part of the delegation to be able to look after my athlete.’
Phillip continued: ‘For everyone to understand, the importance of having your coach in your corner, especially after the first day, her breaking down, just being there in her corner, just talking to her to get her back into the game, I think if I wasn’t there it would have been a lot (more) difficult for her to just bounce back.’
Phillip said his presence there allowed them to make adjustments in technical aspects of her racing bike and in how she raced tactically to compensate for the colder weather in Luoyang, China.
‘Doing that over a cell phone is hard, you know. If she just told me ‘hey coach it is cold’. I don’t know how cold it is so being there, in the atmosphere with your athlete is really, really important,’ said Phillip, adding, ‘so just picking random staff to go with the team, it is not a professional thing. I think that is an approach we need here in Trinidad to take a look at, moving forward.’ Phillip said a main component of Wallace’s success has been the support around her especially from her family.
‘It comes down to the support. Once we continue to get the support that we need I think the sky is the limit for her,’ Phillip explained.
‘I think right now the times she is doing as a junior, she is only 0.8 (seconds) off world record pace which was just set in Paris. So I think the trajectory is great, She has a lot of support right now from her family.
‘Her family are the ones who are financing this whole thing really and truly; especially for me to be there as well in her corner. So hopefully we could meet things that we need, to hopefully speak to the right people to make the right things happens. And obviously with the success now we might have a little bit more people wanting to listen and top help.’
Phillip believed her charge is destined to fulfil her dream of making it to the Olympic stage. ‘Definitely, her goal is definitely to make it to the Olympics.
‘I think she has the ability to do it. It’s just having the resources down here, getting everybody on the right page to believe that we can do it,’ he said, adding that the path to the double silver in China was laid from a year-long plan enacted after the 2023 UCI Junior Track World Championships.
He also commended the Sport Company of Trinidad and Tobago, especially the staff at the Elite Development Performance Unit (EDPU) for their assistance with Wallace’s physical, nutritional and mental preparation for the Worlds.
For her part, Wallace is dreaming big after her China exploits.
‘My biggest dream is the Olympics, obviously that is the dream for every athlete, so looking at 2028 (Los Angeles) and I really think that we can achieve that.’
