Keshorn eyes ‘healthy’ 2019 season

DOUBLE Olympic medallist Keshorn Walcott is looking ahead to an injury-free 2019 season.

The national javelin star who copped gold at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England and bronze at the 2016 edition in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was speaking on Wednesday in an interview at the Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre, St Ann’s.

Walcott, who was a guest at the Atlantic YES (Youth Excellence in Sport) Awards, said his main aim for the 2019 season was “to be healthy."

The 25-year-old continued, "It’s going to be a long season. My main goal is to stay healthy and compete as much as possible, achieve better performances than the previous years, and I guess the World Championship in Qatar."

The World Championship is scheduled to take place from September 28 to October 6.

Asked what else will be on his agenda, Walcott replied, “besides the Diamond League (meets), I’m going to the Pan Am Games. I guess that’s basically it."

The Pan Am Games are set for Lima, Peru from August 5-11.

The soft-spoken Walcott admitted that he is keen to feature in his third straight Olympics next year.

“I am looking ahead to going to Tokyo, (for) my third Olympics, with all health and strength," he said. "That’s most important. Hopefully this year I’ll set a milestone for next year."

How was 2018 like for him? “A lot of people don’t know but I had two elbow operations back in 2017, so 2018 was a bit rough, but a good building point for me coming in to this year.

"I’m really excited about 2019 and 2020."