Pista News

Christopher Sellier: The Pan Am kilo King

Christopher Sellier was born in Trinidad Tobago, a country which no cycling tradition. With only 3 tracks and only one in good use he had to overcome all the adversities in Trinidad Tobago. He started riding in 2002, when he was 16 years old.

As a junior, he was the only cyclist in Trinidad history to win Sprint and Kilometer time trial championship 3 year in a row (2002-2004). As Elite, he's been the national Sprint champion in 2005, 2007-2010, and the kilometer champion in 2005 and 2010. After 2005 he didn't ride the kilo (kilometer time trial) again.

In 2010, the 25-year old cycling Christopher Sellier put his country in the top of the World. Chris won a gold medal and set a Pan Am record in the Kilo when he clocked a time of 1:00.995 Aguascalientes, México. With his ride, Sellier ranked world #1 in kilo and became the first and only Trinidad Tobago cyclist to achieve a top spot in world cycling and to have broken a Pan American record.

The start - father's coaching, old bikes and shoes

 I started riding when I was 16 years old. I didn't specialize in sprint or endurance, as I did both road and track racing. Only until I reached my last year of juniors I decided to go for sprints.

My father was my coach at the time, and that was hard.

When I didn't do good in a race he got emotionally involved, and honestly I was just enjoying cycling and not expecting too much from myself, but he expected to world of me, and that's understandable.
From a parent's point of view it's good to see your children do well.

When I started to ride we didn't have allot of money, so I used my father's old bikes, and shoes. They were good steel bikes though. The track bike was a hand built Masi. He used that bike in the Munich Olympics. My road bike was another steel frame. It was tough racing against people with better bikes and equipment. It was a mental battle every time I go and race. Even training was tough, as I felt bad having these bikes, and shoes that are older than me. Thankfully I got some help in the form of sponsorship and I got my first "good" bikes when I was 18.

My first Sponsorship and my first "good" bike

My first sponsorship was a guy that my dad coached when he was younger. His name was Deon Lawrence De Souza.

Well having a new bike was certainly a moral booster. I finally felt that I could compete with the rest of the guys I was racing against.

Everyone had an aluminum bike or carbon, and I finally had an aluminum bike of my own. It was a custom built Tiemeyer (Photo).

Chris (head down) and his coach in a World Cup event in Manchester.

The actual Coach and “allot of hard work”

My coach is Renee Schmidt from Germany. He's been my coach for 3 years now, since I've been at the UCI Training Centre in Switzerland. When I left the school, I decided I still wanted him to be my coach. He grew up in East Germany, so his training style is similar to what he was exposed to. Allot of hard work =) He really believes in hard work, but also in having a good time now and then. Going out and having a couple beers is ok once I don't overdo it. His training is usually 2 weeks cycles. 2 weeks hard, and 1 week not too hard.

I started my base preparation in October last year till December in Guatemala, with allot of road, and some gym, and also some track. Then track specific work started, as well as gym. Track 3-5 times a week, with gym being 2-3 times a week, while still doing 2-4 hours on the road. It's the hardest I've ever trained.


Main Sponsor

My main sponsor is Beacon Insurance Company. They've been my sponsor and team for 2 years now.
I don't think I would have still been riding if it wasn't for them.
I reached a point in my career where I needed to support myself, and I needed money to do that.
Thankfully I got help in the form of their sponsorship, and that kept me on my bike.
The Government also helps, but right now I'm having trouble getting them to give me some funding to continue my training.



 Photo: Clydeen Mc Donald
2009 - Gerald Hadeed, Chief Executive of The Beacon Insurance Co Ltd, left,
hands over a Beacon Cycling uniform to Pan American Gold medalist Christopher Sellier at a Media Conference
 

Courtesy: Marcel Segessemann

As in Brazil, cycling isn’t a Popular sport in Trinidad Tobago

Honestly there isn't allot of racing in my country in general, track or road. Cycling isn't a popular sport. Football and athletics are the main sports. We desperately need a track here, but because cycling is not popular, we might not get one. The government has been telling us we're getting one for years now. I haven't seen or heard of any construction even starting. I'm hoping we get a track before I retire. It would be nice preparing for big events home, also to be able to host events such as Panams, World Cups, even World Championships would give cycling in Trinidad that extra boost that it needs.

The infrastructure for training - 3 tracks, only one saved and no security on the road

We have 3 tracks in Trinidad that are used. Only 1 of them is safe. The other 2 are in poor condition. I live about 10 minutes ride away from the one that is used most often, so maybe that's why I like track so much =) Other riders aren't so lucky though, so they train on the road, or on the unsafe tracks. I don't like riding on the road in my country, as the drivers have no respect for cyclists. I know of 3 cyclists that died on the road over the past 3 years from cars hitting them, and a number of people, including myself, that got hit by a car, and the car never stopped. I missed the Panams last year due to injuries I got when a car hit me while training on the road. So most Trini cyclists, that wants to do good, have to go away and train.
 

Despite the adversities a champion has been created

In 2008 I won the Keirin in Uruguay, and for the first time I knew how it felt to be a winner. A tear came down my eye when I realized that I won. People can't understand the amount of hard work and sacrifice that goes into cycling at any level.

I remember going to Panams and not even qualifying for the sprints. I remember watching cyclist on the podium receiving their medals, and I'm almost crying because I didn't get a good result. After training all that time, and have nothing to show for it. It's rough.

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Training and racing for the Pan Am 2010

In April there were 2 grand prix style racing in Trinidad with international riders coming. We had some World champions and Olympic champions like Walter Perez and Junior sprint champion Jullet from France.

We always manage to have World class riders at these races. It's a good preparation for Panams. I like racing before a big competition. I was in Dubai with my coach from March to April. He's also the national coach for the UAE (United Arab Emirates ) So he invited me to come and train with him.
2010 - match sprint  in Trinidad against Roberto Chiappa of Italy

Chris and his Father: Anthony Sellier

Pan Am 2010 – Fist step: The National Qualify

For the sprint team to qualify for the Panams we needed to do 11.40 in Trinidad. Not many people could go below 11.4 in Trinidad as it's a slow 460m track with allot of wind. Only 3 of us did it. Me, Njisane, and Azikwe.

The other sprinter, Hasseem, didn't do the time, but the federation still decided to send him to ride the Keirin.


Show Time – The Pan Am Began but nobody was expecting anything from Trinidad Tobago

I went to Mexico expecting nothing. I knew I trained hard, but I knew everybody there did. All the countries, all the cyclists, were ready. The Trinidad team was in Los Angeles for 8 days, so that we could get used to riding on wood again. All of us have been on wood tracks before, but it was a long time since we were on one. I wasn't feeling too good I have to admit. I knew to myself that I was in the best shape I have ever been, but my leg speed wasn't converting to the wood too well. But we trained.

The Team Sprint Order

The Team Sprint order was decided while we were there. The trial was a standing 250m, and a flying 200m. The National coach will decide from that who will go in what position. I had the fastest start, and second fasted 200m time. In the end the coach decided that he couldn't put me to start, as I would leave Azikwe. So he put me in 3rd, and Azikwe to start, with Njisane 2nd. I wasn't too comfortable going 3rd, as I was doubting  my finishing lap.

Photo: with Njisane 2nd and Chris in 3rd.

The first Race – Team Sprint

“No beeping”, No Gold Medal but The First Pan Am Record for Trinidad Tobago

We went to Mexico 3 days before the Team sprint. We didn't do much as we did our training long before. We just got used to the track and did some team efforts. Day of the Team sprint I was really nervous, as we never did a full team sprint together...so I had no idea how I would feel. But I thought "whatever...I could only do my best".

Much to our surprise the starting gates didn't have the beeping sound to count down the time, so we needed to watch the clock count down. That won't affect the 2nd and 3rd rider, it will affect the starter. And it did. We had a REALLY bad start!!!

Njisane did a really good 2nd lap, and I didn't die too much finishing, so we saved the ride in the end, and finished 4th. I thought we were really lucky to still make it in the finals later in the afternoon. The coach and manager had a few words for the starter. We needed to win that medal. The 3rd and 4th place ride off was coming up, and all of us were nervous.

The started had a really good start, and Njisane and I were feeling really good. Njisane did 13.06 for his 2nd lap and I did 13.03 I think, for the 3rd lap. We ended up breaking the un-official Pan Am record much to EVERYONE'S surprise. Nobody ever expects anything from Trinidad.		  
Pan Am record: Christopher Sellier, Azikwe Kellar and  Njisane Phillip 44.09”

The Kilo - 2 Days after the Team Sprint

The morning of the Kilo the Canadian ( Travis Smith ) and I were talking, and he asked me " what time you expect later?"
I laughed and said "1 minute". I honestly have no idea what time I was going to do. I haven't done a full Kilo in a couple years. Even in training I never did a Kilo. So I went out there hoping for a personal best...which would be anything below 1.06 =)
I started the Kilo like I knew I had to. The fastest time before me was 1.02.0 by the Colombian Marin, so I couldn't hold back anything.

2 Laps just went by so fast, and the next 2 laps were the crucial ones. I was in so much pain with 1 lap to go, but I knew my legs weren't slowing down too much, so I just kept going and thinking to myself " you're slowing down, so you need to keep going" and I was almost in panic mode when I hit the finish line as my legs were completely blown. I saw the Trini guys cheering me, so I thought I did an "OK" time.

And Trinidad has shown for the word all its value: Pan Am Kilo Record For Chris

When I got off the bike was when I heard I broke the Panam record. I was in so much pain, and was beginning to blackout due to the lack of oxygen. I didn't feel a single but of joy at that moment. Only after about 15 minutes of riding on the road bike, I started to feel some bits of joy creeping up. The last rider to go was Travis Smith, the only person left that could beat me. He's my friend, but I wanted him to lose =) He was faster than me in every time interval, until the last lap and at that moment, I felt the full amount of joy of winning the Gold, and breaking a record in the process.

From expecting nothing from myself, to winning a Gold medal is a long way, and it's a humbling road that I traveled to get there. Now I know how it felt to be one of those cyclists that I look up to, receiving their medal, and hearing their national anthem play. Words can't describe being on the podium and experiencing that moment, which was brought about by allot of hard work.		  
Chris celebrating his kilo and new record: 1.00.995


The sprint Day – One Day after the Kilo Pan Am Record

I was really tired. I didn't even want to ride to be honest, but I was representing my country, and I needed to do the job the best I can.
Again I didn't have an idea what time I'll do. I went out there, did everything I needed to do, and did 10.177, and qualified 7th I think.
I went through the Sprint rounds and ended up in the 5-8th ride. I finished 5th, but they relegated me to 8th. They said I left the sprinter's lane.

I disagree, but they made their decision and that was final.


Gold Medal and New kilo record for Chris

And now, looking for the past, What’s the meaning of becoming a champion living in a country with no cycling tradition as in Brazil?

Becoming a champion? Well, it doesn't come easy =) Every cyclist wants the same thing you want, and maybe even want it more than you.

What I learned from my little experience is that you can't control any of the cyclists racing against you, you CAN control yourself. Do the best you can do, in everything you do. If it's gym, road, or track. Nothing worth getting is ever easy to get.

I think the team's success, including mine, was a mixture of the country proving support to the riders, as well as individual talent and hard work. If it wasn't for the government, we won't have been in LA training before Mexico.