LONDON 2012 Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott squeezes into the men’s javelin final at the 2024 Paris Olympics at the Stade de France, on Tuesday.
He was 11th in the qualifying round. Only 12 make it into the finals.
Walcott, who participated in the first of two qualifying groups, achieved his best throw on his second attempt, reaching a distance of 83.02 meters. This mark was only 98 centimeters short of the automatic qualifying distance of 84 meters. His first throw measured 74.89 meters, while his third attempt resulted in a throw of 82.57 meters. These efforts placed him sixth out of 16 competitors in his group.
From the first qualifying group, four athletes met the automatic qualifying mark. Leading the pack was Germany’s Julian Weber, who recorded an impressive 87.76 meters on his first attempt. Kenya’s Julius Yego, the silver medallist from Rio 2016, achieved a season-best throw of 85.97 meters on his final attempt. Finland’s Toni Keranen qualified with a personal best of 85.27 meters, also on his final throw. The Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch rounded out the automatic qualifiers from the first group with a throw of 85.63 meters.
Additionally, Finnish athlete Oliver Helander posted the fifth-best mark of 83.81 meters in the first group, placing tenth overall.
The second group of javelin throwers saw five more competitors surpass the automatic qualifying mark, including reigning Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra, Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, and Grenada’s two-time world champion Anderson Peters. Chopra led all qualifiers with an outstanding throw of 89.34 meters, followed by Peters with a mark of 88.63 meters.
Walcott, now 31, has been on a determined comeback trail in 2024 after suffering an Achilles heel injury at the World Championships in Hungary last August. Ranked ninth in the world, Walcott placed first at the Kuortane Games in Finland on June 22, where he threw 84.89 meters.
His best performance of the season came at the NGC National Association of Athletics Administrations meet at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo on June 29, where he secured his eighth national title with an 85.22-meter throw.
Keshorn Walcott will compete in the men’s javelin final on Thursday (August 8) at 2.25 pm (ECT).
