Keshorn Walcott
ORTT
Walcott at the 2012 Olympics
Personal information
Born (1993-04-02) 2 April 1993
Toco, Trinidad and Tobago
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight90 kg (198 lb)
Sport
Country Trinidad and Tobago
SportTrack and field
EventJavelin throw
Achievements and titles
Personal bestsNR 90.16 m (2015)
Medal record
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place2012 LondonJavelin throw
Bronze medal – third place2016 Rio de JaneiroJavelin throw
Commonwealth Games
Silver medal – second place 2014 Glasgow Javelin throw
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place2015 TorontoJavelin throw
Silver medal – second place2019 LimaJavelin throw
Continental Cup
Gold medal – first place2014 MarrakechJavelin throw
World Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place2012 BarcelonaJavelin throw

Keshorn "Keshie" Walcott, ORTT (born 2 April 1993) is a Trinidadian track and field athlete who competes in the javelin throw. He is an Olympic champion, having won gold in 2012. He is the first Caribbean male athlete, as well as the first of African descent, to win the gold medal in a throwing event in the history of the Olympics.[1] He is also the holder of the North, Central American and Caribbean junior record.

Walcott is the youngest Olympic gold medallist in the men's javelin (19 years 131 days), and the first athlete in any track and field event to win World Junior and Olympic titles in an individual event the same year.[2]

Career

Early life and medals

Born the third child of Beverly Walcott and Endy King, Walcott grew up playing football and cricket, striving to keep up with his athletically talented older brother Elton. He was raised in the fishing village of Toco, in north-east Trinidad.[3] He did not take up the javelin until the age of 15, but found immediate success. By April 2009, one week after his 16th birthday, he was the Caribbean youth (under-17) champion.

In 2010 he stepped up to the standard regulation javelin (800-gram), and he continued his domination of the Caribbean junior division, as the three-time winner in the Junior (under-20) javelin throw at the CARIFTA Games in 2010 to 2012, setting a new NACAC North, Central American and Caribbean junior record in 2012.[4]

2012 World Junior Champion

He began the Olympic year in April with his fourth-consecutive victory at CARIFTA Juniors. A record throw of 77.59 m (254 ft 6+1⁄2 in) earned him the distinction of competing unbeaten throughout his CARIFTA career. In late May 2012 he twice improved his personal best, breaking through the 80-meter mark (262 feet) for the first time. At the Quantum Classic in Trinidad and Tobago he threw 78.94 m (258 ft 11+3⁄4 in), breaking Trinidad's national javelin record of 78.06 m (256 ft 1 in), set in 1996 by Kurt Thompson. It was also a NACAC junior record as well. One week later he reset all those marks, while competing at the IAAF International Centennial Meet in Havana, Cuba. He extended the records with a winning throw of 80.11 m (262 ft 9+3⁄4 in).[5][6]

2012 London Olympic Champion

In the stadium on Saturday evening 11 August, made conditions for the javelin throw less than ideal, and worse than during Wednesday's qualifying rounds.[7] Walcott responded to the pressure of the Olympic finals by throwing a personal best distance on his first throw, giving him the lead, and then exceeding that distance on his second throw. He won the Olympic javelin gold medal with a throw of 84.58m (277 ft 6 in). He defeated a string of top athletes to win the competition including 90-metre thrower Tero Pitkämäki and two-time defending Olympic champion Andreas Thorkildsen,[8] as well as Veselý, Oleksandr Pyatnytsya and Antti Ruuskanen.[9] This made Walcott the youngest-ever Olympic champion in javelin throw and the second non-European to win the Olympic gold in men's javelin throw since American thrower Cy Young in Helsinki in 1952.[10]

Steve Backley, a former three-time Olympic medalist in the javelin remarked that it was a "surprise win for Keshorn Walcott. Everyone else struggled with the wind".[11]

Following his Olympic victory, Walcott was hailed as a national hero. On 13 August, the day of his arrival back in Trinidad, was declared a national holiday. He was awarded $150,000 in cash and given land near his hometown of Toco, as well as a luxury home in Port of Spain. In addition, both the Toco lighthouse, (in north-east Trinidad) and the Toco Secondary School were renamed in his honour.[12]

Walcott has been coached since 2009 by Cuban-born Ismael Lopez Mastrapa.[13]

2013 to 2014

Walcott's 2013 season was hampered by injury. In his first competition since his Olympic victory, he "opened big", nearly matching his personal best with an opening round throw of 84.39 m (276 ft 10+1⁄4 in) at a hometown meet in Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain, Trinidad, on Friday 3 May.[14]

In an early March 2014 interview with BBC Scotland, Walcott said that after some rest his ankle "is back to normal". With no World or Olympic competitions to aim for, his 2014 season will be targeted on the 2014 Commonwealth Games, to be held in Glasgow, Scotland. He had a six-week training camp in Cuba in March and planned to compete at a few events in May 2014, before taking part in another training camp in Europe so he can adjust to Glasgow's climate. He said, "My coach likes me to get away from a lot of distractions and just focus on training and being healthy."[15] In the qualifying round of the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Kershorn threw a new personal best of 85.28 m (279 ft 9+1⁄4 in) on 1 August, but in the finals on 2 August he finished second with a throw of 82.67m, trailing Julius Yego of Kenya's winning 83.87m.

At the IAAF Diamond League's final meeting, the Weltklasse in Zurich, Switzerland on 28 August 2014, he set a new personal best/national record of 85.77m (281 ft 4in) in the opening round, finishing second behind Germany's Thomas Rohler's toss of 87.63m.

Tokyo Olympics 2020

The 2012 London Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott did not qualify for the men's javelin throw final after finishing 7th in Group B in the qualification phase. Throwing in Group B, Walcott's best throw of 79.33 on his third throw placed him 7th in that group which was not good enough to qualify him for his third straight Olympic javelin final. [16]

Competition record

YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
Representing  Trinidad and Tobago
2009 CARIFTA Games (U17) Vieux Fort, Saint Lucia 1st Javelin throw (700g) 59.30 m
World Youth Championships Brixen, Italy 13th (q) Javelin throw (700g) 66.72 m
2010 CARIFTA Games (U20) George Town, Cayman Islands 1st Javelin throw 63.41 m
Central American and Caribbean
Junior Championships (U20)		 Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 1st Javelin throw 67.01 m
World Junior Championships Moncton, Canada 16th (q) Javelin throw 66.05 m
2011 CARIFTA Games (U20) Hamilton, Bermuda 1st Javelin throw 72.04 m
Central American and Caribbean Championships Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 4th Javelin throw 70.98 m
Pan American Games Guadalajara, Mexico 7th Javelin throw 75.77 m
2012 CARIFTA Games (U20) Hamilton, Bermuda 1st Javelin throw 77.59 m
Central American and Caribbean
Junior Championships (U20)		 San Salvador, El Salvador 1st Javelin throw 82.83 m
World Junior Championships Barcelona, Spain 1st Javelin throw 78.64 m
Olympic Games London, United Kingdom 1st Javelin throw 84.58 m (NR)
2013 World Championships Moscow, Russia 19th (q) Javelin throw 78.78 m
2014 Commonwealth Games Glasgow, United Kingdom 2nd Javelin throw 82.67 m
2015 Pan American Games Toronto, Canada 1st Javelin throw 83.27 m
World Championships Beijing, China 26th (q) Javelin throw 76.83 m
2016 Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 3rd Javelin throw 85.38 m
2017 World Championships London, United Kingdom 7th Javelin throw 84.48 m
2018 Central American and Caribbean Games Barranquilla, Colombia 1st Javelin throw 84.47 m
2019 Pan American Games Lima, Peru 2nd Javelin throw 83.55 m
World Championships Doha, Qatar 11th Javelin throw 77.47 m
2021 Olympic Games Tokyo, Japan 16th (q) Javelin throw 79.33 m
2022 World Championships Eugene, United States 16th (q) Javelin throw 78.87 m
NACAC Championships Freeport, Bahamas 2nd Javelin throw 83.94 m
2023 Central American and Caribbean Games San Salvador, El Salvador 1st Javelin throw 83.60 m

Seasonal bests

  • 2010 – 67.01 m (219 ft 10 in)
  • 2011 – 75.77 m (248 ft 7 in)
  • 2012 – 84.58 m (277 ft 5+3⁄4 in)
  • 2013 – 84.39 m (276 ft 10+1⁄4 in)
  • 2014 – 85.77 m (281 ft 4+3⁄4 in)
  • 2015 – 90.16 m (295 ft 9+1⁄2 in) NR
  • 2016 – 88.68 m (290 ft 11+1⁄4 in)
  • 2017 – 86.61 m (284 ft 1+3⁄4 in)

See also

References

  1. ↑ Athlete Profile - Keshorn Walcott; prepared 24 April 2013, by Kwame Laurence for the IAAF "Focus on athletes" project; accessed 29 March 2014.
  2. ↑ Minshull, Phil (29 November 2012). "Olympic Champion Keshorn Walcott Faces the Press". IAAF General News. IAAF online press release. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  3. ↑ Feimine, Kevon (11 August 2012). "Walcott Goes For Olympic Glory Today". Trinidad & Tobago Guardian online. Guardian media. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  4. ↑ Lendore, Thomas in World top four
  5. ↑ Kwame Laurence (1 June 2012). "Walcott throws at Junior Champs". usportt.com. Archived from the original on 29 March 2014. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
  6. ↑ Athletes biography-Keshorn Walcott; official competitor's biography compiled by Linley Bernard for Trinidad's NAAATT in 2012, updated in 2013; accessed 29 March 2014.
  7. ↑ Turner, Chris (11 August 2012). "London 2012 - Event Report - Men's Javelin Throw Final". IAAF General News. IAAF. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  8. ↑ IAAF news report, Men's Javelin Throw Finals, 11 August 2012.
  9. ↑ Palmer, Justin (11 August 2012). "Trinidad's Walcott takes surprise javelin gold". Reuters. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  10. ↑ "Walcott wins men's javelin gold for Trinidad and Tobago". The Washington Post. 11 August 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
  11. ↑ Backley, Steve (11 August 2012). "Olympics javelin: Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago wins gold". BBC Sports. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  12. ↑ Riach, James (14 August 2012). "Trinidad and Tobago medallist has lighthouse named after him". The Guardian.com. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  13. ↑ "Anil: Astounding, amazing, spectacular". Trinidad Express. 12 August 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  14. ↑ Laurence, Kwame (4 May 2013). "Olympic champion Walcott returns to action with 84.39m". Trinidad Express, for IAAF. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  15. ↑ Fraser, Graham (13 March 2014). "Glasgow 2014: Keshorn Walcott thinks gold would be 'huge step'". BBC Scotland. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  16. ↑ "Walcott fails to qualify for the Olympic javelin final 2021 | Loop Trinidad & Tobago".
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