Cyclist Rawlins following in father’s pedals

JONATHAN RAWLINS seems set to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a household name in the sport of cycling. Rawlins, son of former national cycling champ and Olympian Leslie Rawlins, is in his second year on the competitive circuit and has given himself a target of qualifying for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The 15-year-old, accompanied by his father as well as brother Christian, paid a visit to Newsday’s offices recently to relate Jonathan’s success on the wheels.

The Couva resident began his 2003 season with action at the 2003 Beacon Insurance-sponsored West Indies versus the World series where, in the juvenile categories, he grabbed ten medals out of 12 events — five gold, four silver and one bronze medal. His intense training at the Southern Sonics club, based at Skinner Park, San Fernando, paid off for the Fourth Form student of Waterloo High School as hs was adjudged the “Most Outstanding Juvenile Cyclist” in the competition. The young Rawlins says he is not specialising in any one event on the track, but pays particular emphasis to the match sprint and kilometre time trials. How does he see his career to date? “Every day (in action) was a good one and really benefitting to me. I learnt a lot of things, especially from my dad and brother,” he remarked.

And his aim for 2004? “I want to train hard to compete and be able to match the other riders,” he responded. Jonathan revealed that his main influence was his father, but in a different sense. “I just looked at my dad’s archives, saw his performances and that encouraged me to be just like him, and even better,” he noted. Leslie was one of the Caribbean’s top wheelsmen in the 1970s and, during his 15-year career he captured the National Sprint title a number of years as well as the Pan Am gold medal (in the match sprint) in 1976. His son however is also aiming to follow in the heels of Simeon Commissiong and become the second national to obtain a cycling scholarship. Further success on the track, and the road, will ensure that his career keeps going, up to the top.