Jair Tjon En Fa - Suriname's track cycling pioneer riding for history

When Jair Tjon En Fa opted to pursue his passion for cycling, it looked like an unusual choice for someone coming from a country without a built track or velodrome.

In fact, most of the famous athletes from Suriname are footballers, and the nation's most decorated Olympian is a swimmer: the 1988 gold medallist in the 100m butterfly Anthony Nesty.

What's more impressive is that Tjon En Fa not only qualified for the Olympics (something that fellow Surinamese cyclist Realdo Kenneth Jessurun did twice), but he nearly reached the podium at his debut Games. finishing fourth in the Keirin event at Tokyo 2020.

“Everyone was excited that I made it to the final and that I finished fourth because it had been a super long time that someone had made it to the Olympic final other than Anthony Nesty,” he shared in an interview with Olympics.com from Aigle, Switzerland where he trains full time at the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale)'s World Cycling Centre.

“I always loved sprinting more than being on the road. But in Suriname we don’t have a track, so I did my first track race in 2007 when I was about 13 years old, and I loved it ever since.”

Leaving home was the only option to keep chasing his dream.

“It was my goal ever since to switch to track cycling so when I got the chance when I was 17, I moved to Miami.”

Since then, Tjon En Fa has dedicated himself to track cycling with the dream of riding at the Olympics and is Suriname’s only competitor in the UCI Track Champions League.

Tjon En Fa: Love at first try with track cycling

Tjon En Fa loved his bike. As a young teen, he knew he wanted to be a cyclist and not follow the well-trodden path of some famous footballers who are natives of Suriname like Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Clarence Seedorf, and Edgar Davids among others.

He also didn’t want to be a road cyclist, which is more popular in the smallest sovereign state lying on the northeast coast of South America.

From what he had watched on TV, he always imagined himself sprinting, but with no track in his home city of Paramaribo, it remained a dream.

His cycling journey commenced properly in Trinidad and Tobago, the closest track to home.

“I went just to try it out, also because a lot of people advised me that it fits better than being on the road,” he recalled. “I tried it out and I loved it. And then when I was 17, I got the opportunity to move to Miami, where I could have a track. I lived in Miami for about six years before I moved to Switzerland.”

For the last four years, the three-time silver medallist has been at the World Cycling Centre, honing his skills and training with some of the best riders in the world.

Since his debut at the UCI Track World Championships as a junior in 2011, he has competed in several World Cups. His 1/16 final place at the 2016 World Championships was his best career moment before Tokyo.

The 29-year-old is a constant feature among the world’s best track cyclists battling for glory in the UCI Track Champions League.

“I've been alone my whole cycling career. I'm used to it, so it doesn't really bother me. I just take it easy. it doesn't really put pressure on me,” he said of his lonely cycling career and getting used to the curious questions about his ethnically diverse nation that is home to about 600,000 persons.

Tjon En Fa: Targeting Paris 2024

He is happy to be breaking barriers while pedalling.

At the Tokyo Olympics, he nearly fulfilled his medal dream for himself as well as Suriname. He finished fourth in the Keirin final behind Jason Kenny who won his seventh Olympic gold.

“I was just really excited to make it that far and also a bit upset because of how the final went,” said Tjon En Fa, one of only two Surinamese who qualified for the last Games. The other was swimmer Renzo Tjon-A-Joe, while badmintor player Soren Opti had to withdraw before the tournament started due to a positive COVID-19 test.

At the Izu Velodrome, the British cycling legend took Jair and everyone by surprise releasing an insane sprint with four laps to go for an outstanding solo victory.

“Looking at the video over and over again, I always think that I should have gone a bit earlier just to get the group moving. If I had attacked right after he (Kenny) left… it would have been a different, totally different race.”

But even as he rues his tactic that thwarted what may have been his best shot at an Olympic medal, it is not lost on him what made his achievement all more remarkable.

He was the first athlete from his country in nearly thirty years to make an Olympic final after Nesty, the Olympic champion in Seoul 1988 and bronze medallist from Barcelona 1992.

"When I went back to Suriname, it was really big because it was something new. It was just a lot of interviews. Everyone was excited that I made it to the final and that I finished fourth.”

He is similarly aware that his performance on the cycling track serves as a huge inspiration for young riders.

“A lot of the guys that ride in Suriname would love to do track cycling, but we still don’t have the track. A lot of them head to Trinidad, which is now a satellite centre for training.”

Finishing eighth in the sprint at the 2022 World Championships held in October at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, the Paris 2024 Olympic host venue, further wet his appetite for the next Games.

“It didn't go exactly as planned…I was capable of more,” he said of his best position ever at the worlds.

“Leading up to the to the World Championships, I got sick a couple of days before, which was which wasn't very ideal.

"The most important for me is qualifying (for the Olympics) which means getting good results in the upcoming Nations cups and next year’s World championships,” he reckoned.

“Paris will be less hard than Tokyo just because of the qualification system. Once I get into Paris, it's a different mindset than normal.”

READ MORE: How to qualify for track cycling at Paris 2024