media_artricles :: 2018

Coach: Keshorn to rest ahead of hectic 2019 season

ISMAEL LOPEZ Mastrapa, coach of TT's double Olympic javelin medallist Keshorn Walcott, said that the decision to rest the 25-year-old for the rest of the year was due to two main factors – a non-stop training schedule for a decade and major events in the next two years.

Walcott, the gold medallist at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England and the bronze medallist in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at the 2016 Games, captured gold last month at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in Barranquilla, Colombia.

In a post on his Instragram page, on Monday, Walcott admitted having a pair of tough seasons after undergoing two elbow surgeries in Finland, in February and August 2017.

The Cuban-born Mastrapa said in a telephone interview yesterday, "We decided to rest for the (remainder) of the season because next season would be longer. 

Keshorn has been training, very hard, for the last 10 years and he needs some rest." Asked about Walcott's 2018 season, Mastrapa replied, "He achieved the goal that we set up for this year, because the most important thing was that he recovered from (those) surgeries. Mastrapa pointed out, "He's going on vacation and (then) we're going to start training, preparing for next year's World Championship and Pan Am Games. In 2020 we have the Olympic Games."

In 2019, the Pan American Games will take place from July 26 to August 11 in Lima, Peru, followed by the IAAF World Championships in Doha, Qatar from September 28 to October 6.

The next Olympics will be staged in Tokyo, Japan from July 24 to August 9, 2020.

Mastrapa admitted that the decision to end Walcott's season was jointly made by athlete and his management team.

Regarding Walcott's plans for the remainder of 2018, Mastrapa said, "Now he's going on vacation for about five weeks and, after that, he's going to start training for the next season."

Walcott will start his pre-season training here in Trinidad.

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