Keshorn Walcott beefs up coaching staff for 2025 season

JAVELIN ace Keshorn Walcott has made some alterations to his coaching staff for the 2025 season with the sole intention of improving his throw distance and possibly landing that evasive World Athletics Championships medal.

The four-time Trinidad and Tobago Olympian described his past year as the “best as it could have gone” and confirmed that he’s made some technical adjustments for the coming season.

“2024 was good. Starting out with the challenge of having surgery and going into the season with a bit of an unknown factor, I believe the season went as best as it could have gone.”

“I know everybody might have been disappointed, including myself, about not getting a medal at the Olympics but, at the end of the day, I’m still proud about what was accomplished for the season,” he said.

Walcott, a two-time Olympic medallist (gold in 2012 and bronze in 2016), placed seventh in the men’s javelin final at the Paris Games in August.

However, he had a challenging year in the lead-up to the Olympics after tearing his Achilles tendon in a warm-up session at the 2023 World Athletics Champs.

It brought an immediate end to his season, followed by surgery which saw a daunting ten months of recovery.

Two months before the Paris Games, the strapping field athlete returned to the competitive arena and had to quickly find his best form to take on the globe’s elite throwers.

Looking ahead at the new season, Walcott said he is expected to make a return to the circuit in May 2025, and believes the recent additions to his coaching staff could be a key factor in him sealing a World Champs podium place, on his seventh attempt.

He, however, did not want to specify who the additions were, as yet.

“I’ve included some additional coaching to my team. We have been making a lot of changes in terms of technical and overall training itself. The method has changed. We’re just looking for a different overall season and result. Things have been going well and I’m happy with training and the progress so far,” Walcott added.

Excluding his 2023 injury at World Champs, the Toco-born athlete has had mixed results at the past five editions, with his best showing coming in 2017, seventh.

Walcott, 31, is well aware that he is in the twilight of his illustrious career but said he wants to achieve all he can in the remaining years to ensure he has no regrets when that time comes for him to walk away from competing among the top flight.

“Yes, Keshorn is almost to the twilight of his career and I’m not going to hide the fact that my career is coming to an end. We can’t do this forever but I’m planning to enjoy and do the best that I can for the next couple of years while I am able to.”

The 2025 World Athletics Championships will be held in Tokyo, Japan, from September 13-21.

“The goal is always to throw far and get a medal at the World Championships. Things are going in the right direction. So far with training, it’s early so we still have a long way to go until September. I have time.”

On December 7, Walcott hosted the first of seven legs of his inaugural Golden League Athletics series. It was designed for local athletes to get some competition in and use their results over time to assess and evaluate their growth.

With the next leg set for early January, and the grand final tentatively scheduled for March, Walcott wants to help create a stage for the nation’s future track and field stars.