Several athletes from the UCI World Cycling Centre (WCC) will be competing in the Olympic Games which kick off in Paris this weekend. Before leaving for the French capital, they answered a few questions about their preparation, goals and hopes…
One of two athletes – alongside Kwesi Browne – to represent Trinidad and Tobago on the track at the Olympic Games Paris 2024, Nicholas Paul will race the individual sprint and keirin.
He competed in the same events at Tokyo 2020, and finished 6th in the keirin.
“I don’t like losing, so when I got into cycling, I just wanted to be the best, and the best is winning a medal at the Olympic Games,” he says.
Listen to how he aims to achieve that in this interview.
Growing up in Suriname, Jaïr Tjon En Fa didn’t know cycling was a sport until he was 13. He was 17 before he tried riding on the track. Now he will represent his country at the Olympics for the second time after finishing 4th in the keirin at the Tokyo 2020 Games.
He talks about his journey, his training buddies at the UCI World Cycling Centre and his coach (former Olympic medalist and UCI World Champion) Craig MacLean who, “knows me better than I know myself some days.”
Listen to his interview
After missingout on qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Jai Angsuthasawit is more motivated than ever to join his UCI WCC teammates in Paris to dispute the sprint events. He is making history for Thailand with his participation in this global multi-sport event. “I think the hardest thing will be that everyone’s gonna be fast,” he says. Jai describes his preparation at the UCI World Cycling Centre in this interview.
“Qualifying for the Olympic Games was my dream and now it’s almost real.” Those are the words of Lithuanian Vasilius Lendel, who will perform on the Olympic stage for the first time in Paris. Since joining the UCI WCC team he has gained confidence and speed: “Training with these guys is very hard. I like this. It motivates me.”
Hear more from Vasilius in this interview.
BMX Racing is a family activity for Switzerland’s Zoé Claessens, who took up the sport in the footsteps of her father and big brothers. Now the three-time European Champion and UCI World Championships silver medalist dreams of making the Olympic podium. As she says: “It’s the same athletes as at the UCI World Championships or UCI World Cup but it’s something else because it’s the Olympic Games, everyone dreams of going and everyone watches.” Find out what else she has to say in this interview.
Sae Hatakeyama first tried a BMX Racing bike as young as three or four. It was the start of a long story that now sees her head to Paris for her second Olympic Games. She hopes to “perform my best and I think my result will come” but also to inspire other people in Japan, where BMX Racing is not very well-known. Listen to her interview.