Page 25 - Team TTO PARIS 2024
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Fresh off a win at the 2012 World Junior “We were extremely happy for him and his coach. As a
Championships in Barcelona, Keshorn Walcott went nation, it really made us feel happy to hear our anthem
into the javelin competition in London with the played at the Stadium in London. It was a fantastic
attitude of simply enjoying his first Olympics and experience for everyone.”
certainly, none of the seasoned competitors viewed
him as a threat. As he moved through the rounds of On Walcott’s return home, he was feted by the nation.
the competition, he probably wasn’t even thinking Thousands turned up at the airport and to give him a
about the thousands of folks back home in Trinidad boisterous welcome, there was a national parade, the
and Tobago glued to their televisions taking in the award of money, a university scholarship, a house and
unfolding drama. the nation’s highest order – the Order of Trinidad and
Tobago.
“The mood in the camp was pure elation when
Keshorn won his medal in London. It was just such Borel, a consistent advocate for athlete welfare,
an exciting moment for the team,” Borel said. believes he deserved all the awards because “he
brought a lot of joy and excitement to the people of
“I think we all go into the Games hoping the team T&T and a lot of hope and motivation to young athletes
would leave with some hardware, with medals. Then in all arenas of sport.”
to have someone as young as he was at the time,
coming off his World Junior Championships win The CAC champion shotputter believes Walcott’s win
coming to the Olympics and just having a fantastic has been a valuable launchpad for a new generation of
day – one of the best days of his life. throwers. “Keshorn’s success gave a lift and exposure
to the throws, we now have more throwers than ever.
Unfortunately, Covid put a damper on things but now
it’s time for us to look again at our capacity building for
the throws.
“We still have Keshorn’s legendary coach Ismael Lopez
Mastrapa in T&T, we have great coaches throughout
the island like Kerron Brown (former national javelin
champion) and Candice Scott (former hammer throw
champion). We really need to utilise these people to
build the capacity of the throwing events.
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