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KESHORN WALCOTT
Cricket, a challenge, Olympic
glory and …
Cuba
Harold Iglesias Manresa
Trinidad & Tobago has only two Olympic medal
winners, both are field and track athletes and hold
records. In Montreal in 1976, Hasely Crawford outran
Jamaican favorite Don Quarrie in the 100 meters in
10.06 seconds, besting Quarrie’s 10.08, and Keshorn
Walcott (84.58 meters, javelin), barely 19 at the
time, who surprised everyone in the final rounds of
the London Olympics in terms of records.
But
no one is underrating the achievement, or the fact
that 2012 was a dream year for him: with a double
championship as, prior to the Olympics, he had been
crowned junior champion in Barcelona with a throw of
78.64 meters. His heart dealt with two great
emotions in under a month.
Two
throws that changed his life, as happened at school
when he played cricket as avidly as football and
practiced athletics. Following in the footsteps of
his older brother Elton (a triple-jumper on
scholarship in the U.S.), Keshorn took up the triple
jump in 2009. One day he challenged some javelin
athletes, saying he would throw further than any of
them and…, his throw was over 55 meters, according
to Ismael López, the Cuban one-time hammer-thrower
who has been coaching Keshorn ever since.
For
one reason or another, hammer-throwing is not
practiced in Trinidad & Tobago, explaining why in
the six-week training camp being held in Cuba
through April 21, there is no representative of this
sport. Walcott, at a height of 1.89m and weighing
93kg, is joined by shot-putters Cleopatra Borell
(aged 33), Hezequiel Romeo (18), and 22-year old
discus thrower Quincy Wilson.
“It
is a challenge training here. Guillermo [Martínez
López, Cuban javelin medallist] is world-class and
very competitive. It was my coach’s decision, but
I’ve always supported his ideas. In Cuba they have a
good training style and a very favorable climate,”
said Walcott, whose icon is Norwegian javelin
thrower Andreas Thorldkinsen. Walcott will start
this year’s summer season in Doha on May 10, with
the first stage of the 4th IAAF Diamond League,
having celebrated his 20th birthday on April 2 in
Havana.
What
areas is he developing? His approach run and his
technique. “I don’t think I’m very strong,” he says.
His trainer, López, went further saying "Keshorn has
a solid approach run, 13 steps (eight on the
approach and five on the cross-over), that, along
with the power with which he withdraws his right arm
ahead of delivery, make him a top javelin-thrower in
spite of his young age. Of course, given his lack of
experience there is plenty of room for improvement
in his technique, as well as his body weight. I’m
confident he will put on around five kilos, but he
needs to broaden his diet.”
“Despite his London title, he is always a very
modest, disciplined and committed athlete. Sometimes
I am surprised when I have to reprimand him when he
has come to training with some sort of injury or not
feeling totally well. His performance in London
leaves us no alternative but to fight for a medal at
the World Championships in Moscow, and that’s what
we are working toward.”
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