Keshorn: Criticism is part of being an athlete

DOUBLE Olympic medallist Keshorn Walcott said criticism is part and parcel of being an athlete.

Walcott was speaking to Newsday recently after placing seventh in the men's javelin final at the Olympic Games in Paris. The Toco native threw the spear 86.16m, a season's best following season-ending surgery in 2023.

It was another medal-less Olympic campaign for Trinidad and Tobago – the second in a row – which brought a wave of criticism of athletes, national sporting bodies and the government.

Walcott, 31, was TT's last Olympic medallist, claiming bronze at the 2016 Rio Games in Brazil. He spectacularly won gold at the 2012 Games in London.

Newsday asked Walcott his thoughts on the power of social media and its effects on athletes’ pre- and post-competition.

“At the end of the day we are putting ourselves out there, and we’re in a position where it’s (criticism) going to come because we are in entertainment. If you don’t show up then people are going to show out. As an athlete you have to understand that it’s always going to be like that, and that’s the life we chose,” he said.

“Everybody has a right to say what they want – whether it has any backing behind it or not. It all depends on the athlete and how and if they receive it.

"I always tell athletes, 'You need to know who you are, what you are doing and to be within yourself, to know how to deal with these experiences and people.'”

TT’s best performance at the Paris Games came from sprinter Jereem Richards, who missed out on his first Olympic medal by four hundredths of a second in the men’s 400m final. There, he placed fourth in a new national record time of 43.78 seconds.

Walcott was the only other athlete to advance to the medal round while medal-favourite Nicholas Paul missed out in both men’s sprint and keirin events.

Sprinter Leah Bertrand advanced to the women’s 100m semi-finals and was eliminated there while veteran sprinter Michelle-Lee Ahye could not progress out of her preliminary heat.

With the favourites falling short, no athlete was spared online criticism.

Walcott added, “People can say what they want, but it doesn’t really bother me, because I know the everyday steps I have to take and the struggles I endure.

"Nobody wants to lose or do bad. Nobody is going out there (to compete) just because they want to. People train their entire lives for these moments. They put their life on hold for these moments, trying to put their best foot forward to represent their country.

“It doesn’t always go as planned because we don’t truly have total control. We can put our best foot forward but our steps are not really controlled by us. It’s only God could really show us the direction He wants us to go in.”

Walcott had a challenging past year in the lead-up to Paris. In August 2023, he tore his Achilles tendon in a warm-up session at the World Athletics Championships. It brought an immediate end to his season, followed by surgery which saw a daunting ten months of recovery.

Two months before the Olympic torch was lit, Walcott returned to competition in June 2024, and had to fast-track his body to take on the globe’s best throwers.

During recovery, he used crutches to walk for several months, and like any athlete on the mend, encountered struggles that the average citizen would overlook.

He said he uses the negative comments as fuel to achieve his goals.

“I understand, and sometimes appreciate the negative comments because it sometimes brings you back to reality. It pulls you back to a place that tells you, ‘You need to work, and work hard, because you’re not just fighting against competitors, you’re also fighting against everyone.'

“It’s easy to sit behind a computer and/or phone and say anything. Sometimes I get a good laugh at it. I know what I have been blessed with and the road I have to walk. I’ve been doing this long enough to know you’re not given anything that you can’t truly handle.

“But, sometimes, in that particular moment, you have to wait for the answers to come. I always say it’s never going to be easy. Being an athlete is not competing against four or five people, it’s competing against the world. Everybody want those three medals but we as a country, we need to do better.”

On his seventh-place showing, Walcott said, “Nobody can set the bar higher than us when we compete. Nobody is doing this with us for the entire year, going through this process.

"Each championship you want to be able to come out with something because it’s going to give you incentive to push towards the other goal. Sometimes I tell people it’s hard for athletes to start over after not achieving anything.”

Walcott urged young athletes to see a psychologist to help them cope with challenging situations. Even negative feedback on social media can be the straw that breaks the camel’s back, he said.