Walcott created history in London Saturday by becoming the first man in the Western Hemisphere to win the javelin competition in 60 years, and the first to medal for Trinidad & Tobago in a field event.
Walcott from Toco threw the javelin 84.58 metres and has joined Hasley Crawford in bringing home the second Olympic gold for the twin-island republic.
The favorite of the event, Oleksandr Pyatnytsya of Ukraine, had to settle for second place as Walcott walked into history as the youngest man to ever achieve such a feat.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar expressed delight with the gold medal performance, calling it “a priceless gift to the nation in the year of our Independence golden jubilee.” The last such achievement by a sporting representative of T&T was Hasley Crawford in 1976.
“Keshorn Walcott has made us immensely proud with every single citizen of our country rejoicing in his historic achievement,” said the PM, while announcing
Also doing T&T proud at the 30th Olympiad were Lalonde Gordon, winner of two bronze medals in the men’s 400m final and the men’s 4x100m relay; Marc Burns, bronze medal winner in the men’s 4x100m relay and Jarrin Solomon, bronze medal winner in the men’s 4x100m relay.
The favorite of the event Oleksandr Pyatnytsya of Ukraine had to settle for second place.
Acting President Timothy Hamel Smith has been asked to appoint a national holiday in the oil rich twin-island republic today. Walcott will be celebrated at a ceremonial meeting set to take place this morning when he arrives from London on Caribbean Airlines at 9:45 a.m.
An honor motorcade will then take him from Piarco International Airport on to Eastern Main Road to Arima through Valencia, Sangre Grande and end in a tribute arranged by the village of Toco, in partnership with the government, at the Toco Composite School.
