Javed?Mounter is unquestionably the fastest man on wheels in this country.
Mounter captivated cycling fans on a prolonged final day of the national track championships with his lightning speed to emerge king of the elite match sprint, brushing aside Darren Matthews with two emphatic wins in the final at the National Stadium on Saturday night.
It was an early birthday gift for Mounter, a silver medallist in the sprint at the 2010 Pan American Cycling Championships in Mar del Plata, Argentina.
“Its great to deliver and prove to people what I?am capable of but I know that I can go faster if I get tougher competition. Next season, I will have to step up to another level,” said the former Lester Vaughan Secondary student, who turns 20 next week.
In the last ride, Matthews, the best endurance rider in the country, took Mounter for a long sprint, but he just whizzed past his opponent with about 150 metres to go and stormed away for an impressive victory.
Mounter was also part of the 1Exchange Team Excel trio that took glory in the Team Sprint competition, which was beset by delays and confusion. The other members of that successful team were Joshua Kelly and Ricardo Hinkson.
One of the most outstanding performers of the championships was Lester Vaughan student Tremaine Forde-Catwell. The promising 14-year-old from Workmans, St George, was the class of the tiny mites, winning golds and breaking records in the 200 metres sprint, the 500 metres and the individual pursuit.
In the match sprint, he defeated G4S Team Swift clubmates Deane Holder in the semi-finals and Chayne Goodman in the final, both outclassed by sheer speed in two straight rides.
The junior sprints belonged to 17-year-old Kristin Vanderpool of Illusion Graphics Fusion. He didn’t lose a single sprint on Saturday in beating Joshua Kelly in the semis and Edwin Sutherland in the final.
Earlier in the championships, Sutherland, a student at the Barbados Community College, took silvers in the keirin and kilometre.
Liam Lovell looked to be the class of the junior sprinters, but was troubled by a high temperature and had to pull out of the meet during the course of his semifinal clash with Sutherland. He won the first ride, struggled throughout the second ride which he lost and could not contest the third sprint.
Matthews had to settle for second best in the sprints, but was dominant at every other turn, having earlier at the meet lowered the Barbados record in the senior individual pursuit when he clocked five minutes, three seconds in the Omnium, an event made up of six races – three individual and three group events.
He told NATION?SPORT that defeating Mounter in the kilometre was the highlight for him.
“I didn’t expect to beat him in the kilometre because it is a sprint event. It’s a booster for me. I know I?have to do a good kilo for the Omnium but I didn’t expect to it here,” he said.
Tunnico Weekes of A?Class Battery Golden Wheelers was the king of the juvenile sprints, holding off a furious charge from clubmate Darius Ramsammy in the final. Ramsammy took the second ride and came at Weekes hard on the outside in the decisive third sprint but the former Grantley Adams Memorial student had the speed to hold him off.
In the masters events, Ivan Puckerin of G4S Team Swift was the match sprint champion, nosing out a gallant Sean Maloney in the final while the durable Edward Julien, who turned 50 last month, ruled the kilometre, keirin and individual pursuit.
