Trinidad and Tobago celebrated a banner night at the World Athletics Championships as Keshorn Walcott captured his first World title in the Men’s Javelin, and Jereem Richards stormed to a national record for Silver in the 400 metres at the Japan National Stadium.
Walcott, the 2012 Olympic champion who made history then as the youngest winner of an Olympic Men’s Javelin title, returned to the summit of the event at age 32, placing him among the rare thirty-something athletes to claim the world crown. He seized control in round two with 87.83 metres and tightened his grip in round four with a season‑best 88.16 metres that proved untouchable.
Grenada’s two‑time World champion, Anderson Peters, finished second, while the United States’ Curtis Thompson surprised for Bronze with 86.67 metres.
Walcott arrived in Tokyo without an international victory this season and after placing seventh at last year’s Paris Olympics. But a reset to his programme late last year, bringing in German coach Klaus Bartonietz, formerly mentor to Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra, is a change he suggested could be decisive.
The medals also kept coming for Trinidad and Tobago on a rain‑slicked track in Tokyo today.
Running from lane two, Jereem Richards delivered a composed, ferocious one‑lap effort to take 400 metres Silver in 43.72 seconds, lowering the national record he set at the 2024 Paris Games (43.78 seconds) when he narrowly missed the podium in fourth. There was no such heartbreak this time, as the 31‑year‑old sealed the country’s second medal of the session.
Botswana’s Busang Collen Kebinatshipi, who led the world this season after a 43.61-second semi‑final, affirmed that form with a personal best and new world‑leading 43.53 seconds for Gold. His compatriot, Bayapo Ndori, claimed Bronze in 44.20 seconds (season’s best), and Jamaica’s Rusheen McDonald placed fourth in 44.28 seconds.
Two events, two medals, and a statement night for Trinidad and Tobago on the global stage.