By Noel Francis
Tokyo, Japan – Trinidad and Tobago’s Keshorn Walcott turned back the clock at the World Athletics Championship when he secured his first world title in the men’s Javelin Throw, thirteen years after he won the Olympic title in London 2012. Walcott led a 1-2 finish for the Caribbean with two-time world champion Anderson Peters from Grenada grabbing silver. In fact, it was a podium sweep for the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC) as American Curtis Thompson won bronze.
Walcott, whose last global medal was a bronze at the Rio Olympics, put the competition in a chokehold from the second round when he launched the spear 87.83m. This was in response to Anderson’s second-round effort of 87.38m, which took the lead. Thereafter, the pressure of keeping pace was evident as one by one the contenders fell by the wayside. This included the Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan and world champion Neeraj Chopra of India, who both failed to make the top six.
Julius Yego, the 2015 world champion, was still in contention until he suffered an ankle injury and had to retire from the competition. Thereafter, it became a four-horse race with India’s Sachin Yadav trying to finish what Chopra couldn’t. However, Walcott was not in a complacent mood and extended his lead for good measure with a fourth-round effort of 88.16m, which remained untouchable.
“It’s been a long journey,” said Walcott. “Thirteen years of ups and downs, this is the medal (world title) everybody in my country knew that I wanted to have. I wanted it so bad, I’ve just been chasing, chasing, chasing and at times, I would think it wouldn’t come.”
He added, “This year, I knew we were in a good position to battle for medals. Going out there knowing that I need to just relax, something will happen, knowing that we can throw well, and after the second throw, I found a rhythm and was able to execute. I’m thankful nobody was able to throw better.”
Two-time champion Anderson Peterson did not improve on his second-round effort, but was pleased nevertheless with his performance and the fact that the Javelin Throw is heading in a new direction. “The Javelin is no longer dominated by the Europeans,” he said. “We have caught up with them. No European won a medal at the Olympics last year, no European won a medal here. I am super proud of myself to be able to throw 87m today. I am super proud of Keshorn Walcott. It’s been nine years since he won a medal.”