He fell just short of an Olympic medal, left a little "Trini flavour" in London, and watched his younger Trinidad and Tobago teammate, javelin thrower Keshorn Walcott, earn this country's first Olympic gold medal in 36 years.

Now track cyclist Njisane Phillip is even hungrier to taste Olympic success in four years' time at Rio de Janeiro 2016.

Phillip, in his first trip to the world's biggest sporting stage, only just missed out on T&T's first cycling sprint medal and placed seventh in the keirin, one spot shy of the final.

"I had a long season and no excuses from me [for my performances at London 2012]," Phillip told the media yesterday at Piarco International Airport after returning home from the Olympic Games.

"I had a great time just being on the Olympic circuit and I did my best, I came up fourth. It just makes me more hungry, showed me that I'm closer to all the guys in the world. So 2016 we'll see how it goes."

At the London Velodrome, Phillip proved a fan favourite as the crowd cheered him on to upsets over German Robert Forstemann and Denis Dmitriev in the round of 16 and quarter-final round, respectively.

"I was just doing my thing," Phillip explained, "adding a little Trini flavour to the velodrome and the crowd definitely liked it. I was just out there having fun."

The cyclist is keen now to take a break from the action and spend time with family and friends before resuming training next season.

But T&T Cycling Federation (TTCF) president Rowena Williams believes Phillip's performances have stretched beyond Olympic competition.

"What Njisane has done for us has boosted the sport, given the young people more encouragement to fight and [to] focus and set their goals," she told the Express. "We [the TTCF] are looking at how we can expand the [athlete] pool, and make sure Njisane is not the only cyclist representing [T&T] at the next Olympics."

She pointed out that since his impressive showings in London, locals are now more interested in cycling and what Phillip has done and Williams also hopes that will translate into more assistance and better facilities for the sport.

As for the TTCF, Williams said the Federation could not be more proud of T&T's lone cyclist at the Games.

"(The Federation) expressed their gratitude for what Njisane has done for cycling and we can't ask for more from him," she stated. "He did his best."

By Kern De Freitas

Source: trinidadexpress.com