Paul, Ahye top T&T 2023 Sports Awards; Blackman, De Gannes get Youth gongs

After taking top honors at the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee Awards, cyclist Nicholas Paul and sprinter Michelle-Lee Ayhe were again the big winners at the 2023 First Citizens Sports Awards on Friday night at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad.

For Paul, it was his fourth First Citizens award (including one as Junior Sportsman of the Year), while Ahye took her fourth title.

Swimmer Nikoli Blackman recorded his fourth consecutive Youth Sportsman of the Year award, while Jenae De Gannes claimed the Youth Sportswoman of the Year for the first time.

Trinidad and Tobago’s 3×3 basketball team, which bagged a historic bronze medal at the Pan American Games in 2023, won the Lystra Lewis Award for the best national team.

Twelve sporting personalities were inducted into the First Citizens Sports Hall of Fame including the late Deon Lendore, who tragically died in a car accident in January 2022.

Before the gala event kicked off at the Hyatt Regency, Paul was the clear favorite for the Sportsman of the Year after a stellar 2023.

The 25-year-old from Gasparillo won two gold medals and a silver medal at the 2023 Pan American Elite Track Cycling Championships before taking silver in the sprint at the UCI Tissot World Track Cycling Championships in Glasgow, Scotland.

Paul then racked up a gold medal and a silver at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile.

The cyclist, who was competing in the flying 200m at the 2024 Tissot UCI Track Nations Cup in Hong Kong when he was announced as the winner, was informed of the award by his parents.

“As parents, we are very elated and we are very proud of his achievements, but he has been really consistent,” said his father, Darren Paul. “Competition after competition, he has been really consistent.”

Paul was a promising footballer at Naparima College before switching to cycling, after impressing on impromptu road races on Dalloo Road in Gasparillo.

“We used to make up small bikes on the road and he used to race against fellows with bigger bikes,” said Paul. “He was beating boys with bigger bikes on the road. So a friend of mine told us we need to look at cycling also.

“In addition to that, naturally he was good at any sport he set his mind to. Football; […] we really thought that was the way he was going. He couldn’t do both.

“He chose this one because it’s an independent sport and the rest is history.”

Newly-crowned Sportswoman of the Year Ahye, 31, won a bronze medal in the 100m at the Pan American Games, stopping the clock at 11.53 seconds. She also won her sixth 100m title at the National Championships with a run of 11.31 seconds in July 2023.

Her mother, Raquel Ahye, was almost speechless after seeing her daughter win the title for the fourth time.

“I am really at a loss for words this time. I’m a proud mother, very proud,” she said.

Ahye said that she knew her daughter would be a special athlete after watching her run at the primary school level.

“The first time I saw my daughter run was in Primary School, Milo Games, and I saw the potential in her,” she said.

With the Paris Olympics looming, Ahye said that her daughter is putting in the hard yards for the 2024 Games.

“So far, she is training very, very hard for this Olympics,” she said. “We talk a lot and she says she is alright but just missing the home cooking—the macaroni pie, the pelau, and the curry crab.

“Michelle made the Ahye family proud and for me, she made me very proud to see that [while] I didn’t finish athletics, she picked up what I left off.”

Raquel Ahye, like her daughter, competed in the 100m and 200m sprints.

Swimmer Blackman took a gold medal in the 50m freestyle (22.35 seconds) at the World Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships in Israel in September 2023.

Just a month before, the 17-year-old also won three gold medals at the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad in August.

“It’s always amazing to be given this award—it feels like the very first one,” said his father, Bertram Blackman. “I am elated. I am excited. I am excited for him and for where he is going. This is one of those other nuggets along the road to bigger things.

“I spoke to Nikoli about these awards this morning and he is excited. He just came out of the SEC (Swimming and Division Championships). He has a fantastic time there as well.

“In the next week or so he goes on to Indianapolis where he competes in the NCAA, and then two weeks after that we go to Texas (San Antonio) to the Olympic qualifiers.”

Blackman said that Paris 2024 was on his son’s radar.

“We are looking at the Olympics,” he said. “He is close enough to his Olympic time, which is 21.96 seconds. He is on 22.33s. He has some work to put inside there. We are just happy for the process and just happy to be here.”

Talented track and field athlete, De Gannes, took gold in the long jump at the 2023 NACAC U18 Championship.

She was also part of the 4x100m relay team that took gold at the same meet in San Jose, Costa Rica.

“This is my first award—I’m elated,” said De Gannes. “As I always say, once you put in the hard work, trust in God, and with the support of family, friends, and coaches, anything is possible.”

She said her record-breaking jump at the NACAC U18 championships, where she leaped 6.11 meters at Estadio Nacional in San Jose, Costa Rica, was her best moment of 2023.

“I was confident—I just knew I was going out there to get that gold and the record was in my head,” said De Gannes. “I thought if everything goes to plan and you trust yourself, your coaches and God it could happen. I just went out there and I did it.

“I have the Carifta Games next two weeks and I think this will push me to get the gold and get the record there.”

The Lystra Lewis Award went to the Trinidad and Tobago 3×3 basketball team, who were surprised by the honor as no basketball players were nominated for First Citizens Awards.

“I was a bit shocked because we weren’t on the nominee list but then when I saw the team award, I kind of had a feeling it would have been us,” said Chike Augustine. “It was shocking, but I am grateful to have received the award.”

Augustine was off the court when Ahkeem Boyd hit the winning shot to beat Venezuela 21-20 at the Pan American Games, but he has vivid memories of the moment.

“I had just come out of the game—I was very upset because I had messed up the play before and that gave [Venezuela] an advantage,” he said. “Sitting on the bench, I had the perfect angle and from the moment I saw the ball go in. I just lifted up Akheem. Words can’t describe that shot.”

His captain Moriba De Freitas made the pass to set up the winning shot.

“Before the pass as Chike rightfully said, he called it a mess up, I call it a mistake, a learning thing in life,” said De Freitas. “Kudos to the Venezuelan player, who knocked down the two free throws. But also big shout-out to my team and big belief.

“We know whether the ball went to Ahkeel (Smally Boyd) or Akheem (Fatto Boyd), we had to win by the three-point shot. It so happened that it fell into Akheel’s hands and history was made.”

Four Olympians were among the dozen inducted into the First Citizen’s Sports Hall of Fame.

Lendore was joined by sprinter Mark Burns, shot-putter Cleopatra Borel and hammer-thrower Candice Scott.

Athletics coach Charles ‘Charlie’ Joseph and deceased Special Olympian and administrator Devan Mahadeo were also entered into the Hall of Fame.

Athlete Pearl Gooding was also inducted posthumously.

Former boxing world champion Leslie ‘Tiger’ Stewart, hockey legend Kwandwane Browne, and horse racing stalwart Edmund De Freitas were also honored.

Administrators Candilla Berment (Special Olympics) and Gordon Borde (Swimming) rounded off the 2024 Hall of Fame class.

Sports Minister Shamfa Cudjoe-Lewis congratulated the awardees for their exemplary focus, perseverance, grit, and will to conquer their sporting disciplines.

“Sport has done us well once again, and will continue to be a driver of positivity, peace, progress, prosperity, and productivity—not only for our athletes, but for our nation by extension,” she said.

First Citizens Group CEO, Karen Darbasie, reminded the athletes that they were an inspiration and a role model for the next generation.

“This means, there is just as much power ascribed to you, our sporting champions,” said Darbasie, “you stand head and shoulder with other societal leaders, all with the responsibility for creating a better world.”

First Citizens Sports Foundation Chairman, Dr Terry Ali, also emphasized that athletes were exemplars for our entire society, especially our youth.

“Many of our young people need a sense of direction and a fully functioning moral compass,” said Ali. “I am hoping that ceremonies like these that highlight and reward our athletes—their successes and their achievements, will send a clear message to our entire population that sport is an essential vehicle in maintaining a stable and relatively crime-free society.”

First Citizen’s Sports Awards 2023

Sportsman of the Year – Nicholas Paul (Cycling)

Sportswomen of the Year – Michelle-Lee Ahye (Athletics)

Youth Sportsman of the Year – Nikoli Blackman (Swimming)

Youth Sportswomen of the Year – Janae De Gannes (Athletics)

Lystra Lewis Award – T&T 3×3 basketball team (Moriba De Freitas, Chike Augustine, Ahkeem Boyd, Ahkeel Boyd)

First Citizen’s Hall of Fame Inductees

Deon Lendore (Athletics) – Posthumous

Mark Burns (Athletics)

Cleopatra Borel (Athletics)

Candice Scott (Athletics)

Leslie ‘Tiger’ Stewart (Boxing)

Kwandwane Brown (Hockey)

Edmund De Freitas (Horse Racing)

Charles ‘Charlie’ Joseph (Coach)

Pearl Gooding (Athletics) – Posthumous

Candilla Berment (Administration)

Gordon Borde (Administration)

Devan Mahadeo (Special Olympian and administrator) – Posthumous