Keshorn Walcott

Keshorn Walcott

Keshorn Walcott at the 2012 Olympics
Personal information
Nationality	Trinidad and Tobago
Born	2 April 1993 Toco, Trinidad and Tobago
Residence	Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	90 kg (200 lb)
Sport
Sport	Track and field
Event(s)	Javelin throw
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	90.16 (2015) NR
Medal record Olympic Games 2012 London Javelin throw Commonwealth Games 2014 Glasgow Javelin throw Pan American Games 2015 Toronto Javelin throw Continental Cup 2014 Marrakech Javelin throw World Junior Championships 2012 Barcelona Javelin throw

Keshorn "Keshie" Walcott, ORTT (born 2 April 1993) is a Trinidadian javelin thrower and the 2012 Olympic champion. He is the first black male athlete 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 (and last) child of Beverly Walcott and Endy King, Walcott grew up playing football (soccer) 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 6¹⁄₂ 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 11³⁄₄ 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 9³⁄₄ in).^[5][6]

2012 London Olympic Champion

Gusty winds 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 10¹⁄₄ in) at a hometown meet in Hasley 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 9¹⁄₄ 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 (281ft 4in) in the opening round, finishing second behind Germany’s Thomas Rohler's toss of 87.63m.

Competition record

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
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

Seasonal bests

• 2010 - 67.01 m (219 ft 10 in)
• 2011 - 75.77 m (248 ft 7 in)
• 2012 - 84.58 m (277 ft 5³⁄₄ in)
• 2013 - 84.39 m (276 ft 10¹⁄₄ in)
• 2014 - 85.77 m (281 ft 4³⁄₄ in)
• 2015 - 90.16 m (295 ft 9¹⁄₂ in) NR

See also

• Trinidad and Tobago at the 2012 Summer Olympics
• List of javelin throwers

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". www.usportt.com. 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". 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.

External links

• Keshorn Walcott profile at IAAF
• T&T Native Enjoys 2nd Gold in Nation's History
• Games 2012 JAVELIN Men Final; YouTube video shows Walcott in comparison to his fellow competitors in London, not simply his Gold medal winning throw.
• London 2012 - Event Report - Men's Javelin Throw Final; detailed results of London 2012 Finals.
• Keshorn Walcott's Career Highlights and Honors; The National Sports Archives of Trinidad and Tobago lists the astonishing number of national awards and honors bestowed on Walcott following his 2012 Olympic victory.