Horsford eager to master heavier javelin

TYRIQ HORSFORD is eyeing more success in 2018 after winning his fourth gold medal at the CARIFTA Track and Field Championships which recently concluded in Nassau, Bahamas.

The 18-year-old Horsford has been dominant in the field of javelin, having won the boys Under-18 CARIFTA gold in 2015 (with a best of 70.73 metres in St Kitts/Nevis), 2016 (73.0m in Grenada) and 2017 (a Games record of 76.50m in Curacao), and the boys Under-20 gold (68.15m) at this year’s event.

Horsford, in an interview upon the team’s arrival at the Piarco International Airport on Tuesday, said although he emerged triumphant, he is still getting accustomed using the heavier javelin utilised in the Under-20 division.

Horsford, has been using the 700-gramme spear but is now mandated to use the 800-gramme, which is the men’s javelin standard.

“This year, for me, it’s just to get a good transition with the 800 (gramme), seeing how the javelin changed, and also to make the World Junior standards.”

The World Junior Championships will be held in Tempere, Finland from July 10-15 but Horsford is still short of the qualifying mark. He added, “I’m off of it by some centimetres so it’s just to work on what I need to work on. And hopefully I would achieve that.”

The Trinidad and Tobago CARIFTA contingent returned home from the Bahamas on Tuesday night, with a haul of 17 medals – four gold, six silver and seven bronze.

Horsford is already eyeing a fifth CARIFTA gold medal when he competes for the final time in 2019.

“I have one more year in CARIFTA and hopefully (it will be) something special.”

Reflecting on his experience at this year’s CARIFTA, at the Thomas Robinson Stadium in Nassau, Horsford said, “It was a good experience for me, competing in the Bahamas for the second time. I’ve been accustomed to the track already, so it was just for me to go out and do what I had to do, and I just try to do my best every time I go out and compete for my country, and hopefully I try to come out successful.”

In 2017, Trinidad and Tobago returned home with a collection of 22 medals – seven gold, five silver and 10 bronze. But Horsford said that there was no hint of disappointment in the team camp.

“For me, it was good knowing that the camaraderie (was there) in the team,” he said. “The team spirit was better, it was more lively. I didn’t have any negatives (from) the team.

“The bunch of talent that was there in the team, it was something that really helped and also pushed me,” he continued. “It’s a young team and seeing the talent they have and what they put forward on the track, it really motivated me to really put more for them and to show them that we can do this as a country.”