Olympian Nicholas Paul and National athlete Tianna Guy were named flagbearers for Team TTO in the opening ceremony of the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games currently taking place in Chile
The Opening Ceremony of the Games will be held today at the National Athletic Stadium in Santiago. The 47,000-seat venue will be lit and decorated to welcome more than 6800 athletes from 41 countries from across the Americas.
Speaking with Chef De Mission, Stacy Santana today, she said: “Selecting flagbearers for this Games was a challenge as my team has so many talented athletes with a wealth of medals under their belt”. She added that both athletes selected have never been flagbearers for Team TTO and “we’ve never had a female boxer carrying the flag for Trinidad and Tobago for any edition of the Pan Am Games.
The 26 tear-old Tianna Guy is a women’s featherweight (57kg, 125lbs) boxer, who captured a silver medal in the recently concluded AMBC American Boxing Championships in Cali, Colombia which sealed her spot at the Games. Guy, who also is one of this country’s elite athletes, was also the first female boxer to compete in a Commonwealth Games, at the Birmingham 2022 edition. She is currently ranked 9th in the world and is the current national champion in her category.
The 25-year-old Olympian, Nicholas Paul is one of the world’s top sprinters in the sport of cycling track and has a wealth of medals for his country under his belt. Based in Switzerland at the International Cycling Union (UCI) World Cycling Centre, Paul recently earned a silver medal at the UCI World Track Championships in Glasgow, England. Paul is no first-timer to the Pan American Games, having won Gold in Lima, Peru in the men’s individual sprint event. Back in 2019.
In 2022 Paul took three medals (Gold – Keirin, Silver – Sprint, Bronze – 1km Time Trial) at the Commonwealth Games, Birmingham. The previous year, he copped a total of 4 medals (3 Gold medals at the UCI Nations Cup – Kilometre time-trial, Keirin and Sprint and Silver at the UCI World Track Championships).
Both Paul and Guy are high in spirits and eager to continue to fly the flag high for Trinidad and Tobago at the Games.
Also taking part in the parade for Team TTO at the Opening Ceremony will be cyclists Kwesi Browne, Zion Pulido, Akil Campbell; badminton players: Chequeda De Boulet and Marc Reece Marcano; 3x3 basketballers Akeel Boyd, Akeem Boyd, Moriba De Freitas, and Chike Augustine; boxers Angel George, Al-Jaleel Johku; gymnasts Jameel Ali; swimmers Nikoli Blackman, Zarek Wilson and Cherelle Thompson; Lawn Tennis athlete, Yolande Leacock and weightlifter Karin Singh.