Williams produces new PB in sprints at Junior ‘Worlds’

Rising cycling talent Kyrah Williams produced a new personal best time on day two of the 2025 UCI Junior Track World Championships in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, on Thursday, but she could not progress beyond the 1/16 round of the Women’s match sprints.

Her improved time in the qualifying sprints was the lone bright spark for the T&T team in the opening two days of the championships. Sporting the number #116 bib, Williams opened up on her way to a blistering 11.750 seconds to erase the 12.00 time she landed at the Junior Pan American Track Cycling Championships in Lima, Peru, in June last year. Apart from setting a new lifetime best, that time also earned Williams a qualifying berth to the 1/16 round of the tournament on Thursday morning.

Williams’ times also earned her 19th position overall in the qualifying round, falling well behind neutral athlete Veronika Solozobova, who was the fastest in the round, delivering a breathtaking 11.146 seconds. Colombia’s Valeria Hernandez was the second-fastest qualifier on the day at 11.155, while Matilde Cenci of Italy completed the top three fastest times at 11.353.

However, in the next round of the match sprint, Williams failed to progress as she was beaten by Australia’s Olivia Wright in heat nine. Eleven riders advanced from the 1/16 round, inclusive of Italy’s Siria Trevisan, who prevailed over Areli Guerrero of Mexico, Zita Gheysens of Belgium, who brushed aside Weronika Skrzynska of Poland in heat two, Venezuela’s Paola Mani Ramirez reigning supreme over Han Yun Lo of Chinese Taipei, Emilia Waterstradt of Germany beating Agata Groszewska of Poland, and Ebony Robinson of Australia who progressed ahead of Arielle Greaves of Barbados in heat five.

Meanwhile, mechanical issues plagued the country’s men’s team in the Team Sprint from as early as the qualifiers. The team of Judah Neverson, Javon Ramroop, and Jelani Nedd stopped the clock at 47.071 seconds, which proved to be insufficient to earn a place in the next round.

After the T&T trio limped to a first lap split-time of 19.108 seconds and completed the second lap at 32.932, coach Robert Farrier said mechanical issues hampered his team’s chances of progressing, stating that there were capable of producing a sub-47-second time on any given day. Their time pushed the T&T team to the 11th position overall, which was well beyond the eight qualifying teams needed to advance.

Great Britain’s team of Kristian Larigo, Archie Gill, and Loan Hepburn topped the qualifiers in a time of 44.382, with the Korean trio of Jaeho Jung, Taeho Choi, and Wooju Jeon taking the runner-up position. Germany achieved the third-fastest time accolade in 45.316 seconds with their team of Maurice Steckel, Finn-Liam Petterson, and Benjamin Bock.

Later, the T&T pair of Ramroop and Neverson contested the men’s keirin and failed to get past the first round. In heat one of the qualifiers, Ramroop finished last out of the six riders, with only the winner advancing to the second round. Ramroop, who completed the 2025 Junior Pan American Track Cycling Championships campaign with a sixth-place finish in the men’s one-kilometre time trial, got another chance at qualifying from the repechage, but again, with just the winner going through to the next round, he crossed the finish line in the fourth position.

Neverson, on the other hand, just missed out on qualification from heat five with a second-place finish, and like his compatriot, was given another chance at the repechage. However, Neverson returned another second-place finish behind the eventual winner, Matteo Ghirelli of Italy.