Trinidad and Tobago sprinter
Keston Bledman , HBM (born 8 March 1988) is a track and field sprint athlete , who competes internationally for Trinidad and Tobago .[2]
On 7 July 2007, at the 2007 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships in São Paulo , Brazil , he upset the Jamaican Yohan Blake in the 100 meters , finishing in 10.32 seconds (−1.1 m/s wind).
Bledman represented Trinidad and Tobago at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing . He competed at the 4 × 100 m relay together with Marc Burns , Aaron Armstrong and Richard Thompson . He was the lead off man.[3] In their qualification heat they placed first in front of Japan , the Netherlands and Brazil . Their time of 38.26 was the fastest of all sixteen teams participating in the first round and they qualified for the final. Armstrong was replaced by Emmanuel Callender for the final race and they sprinted to a time of 38.06 seconds, the second time after the Jamaican team, winning the silver medal .[2] In 2022, Bledman and his teammates received the gold medal due to Jamaica's Nesta Carter testing positive for the prohibited substance methylhexaneamine .[4]
He ran in the first round, but not the final of the men's 4 × 100 m at the 2009 World Championships where Trinidad and Tobago won silver.[3]
On 4 June 2011, Bledman ran 9.93 over 100 m in Clermont, Florida , to become the 78th athlete to cross the 10-second barrier .[5] He won his first national title in June 2012 by beating Richard Thompson over 100 m and ran a personal best time of 9.86 seconds,[6] which is currently tied for the 27th fastest ever. At the 2011 World Championships, he qualified for the 100 m final as one of the fastest losers in the semi-final.[3]
He was also a member of the relay team that won a silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.[7] He was part of the Trinidad and Tobago team 4 × 100 m team that won the bronze at the 2014 Commonwealth Games .[8] He ran in the 100 m and the 4 × 100 m at the 2016 Summer Olympics .[9]
Early career [ edit ] His mother lived in the US, and Bledman attributes his athletic success to wanting to do well enough to qualify for the national team and earn a visa.[3] He was recruited by Gunness Persad, who became his coach, at Pleasantville Senior Comprehensive sportsday.[3] His first international competition was the 2005 World Youth Championships, where he won an individual bronze.[3] His athletics idol is Hasely Crawford who won the 100 m at the 1976 Olympics for Trinidad and Tobago.[3]
Personal best [ edit ] International competitions [ edit ] Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes Representing Trinidad and Tobago 2005 CARIFTA Games (U-20) Bacolet , Trinidad and Tobago 8th 100 m 10.79 (+1.7 m/s) 1st 4 × 100 m relay 41.05 World Youth Championships Marrakesh , Morocco 3rd 100 m 10.55 2nd Sprint medley relay 1:52.51 2006 CARIFTA Games (U-20) Les Abymes , Guadeloupe 2nd 100 m 10.57 (0.0 m/s) Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships (U-20) Port of Spain , Trinidad and Tobago 2nd 100 m 10.39 (+1.5 m/s) 4th 4 × 100 m relay 40.80 World Junior Championships Beijing , China 7th 100 m 10.47 (-0.5 m/s) 54th (h) 200 m 25.57 (-0.6 m/s) 2007 CARIFTA Games (U-20) Providenciales , Turks and Caicos 2nd 100 m 10.41 (+1.2 m/s) Pan American Junior Championships São Paulo, Brazil 1st 100 m 10.32 2nd 4 × 100 m relay 40.11 Pan American Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 9th (sf) 100 m 10.34 4th 4 × 100 m relay 39.23 World Championships Osaka, Japan 22nd (qf) 100 m 10.33 2008 Central American and Caribbean Championships Cali, Colombia 10th (sf) 100 m 10.38 1st 4 × 100 m relay 38.54 Olympic Games Beijing , China 1st 4 × 100 m relay 38.06 2009 Central American and Caribbean Championships Havana, Cuba 6th 100 m 10.29 1st 4 × 100 m relay 38.73 World Championships Berlin, Germany 2nd (h) 4 × 100 m relay 38.47 2010 NACAC U23 Championships Miramar, Florida , United States 4th 100 m 10.19 (+1.7 m/s) Central American and Caribbean Games Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 7th 100 m 10.32 1st 4 × 100 m relay 38.24 2011 Central American and Caribbean Championships Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 1st 100 m 10.05 2nd 4 × 100 m relay 38.89 World Championships Daegu, South Korea 8th (sf) 100 m 10.14 6th 4 × 100 m relay 39.01 2012 Olympic Games London , United Kingdom 9th (sf) 100 m 10.04 2nd 4 × 100 m relay 38.12 2013 World Championships Moscow, Russia 11th (sf) 100 m 10.08 7th 4 × 100 m relay 38.57 2014 World Relays Nassau, Bahamas 2nd 4 × 100 m relay 38.04 Commonwealth Games Glasgow, United Kingdom 14th (sf) 100 m 10.24 3rd 4 × 100 m relay 38.10 2015 World Relays Nassau, Bahamas 7th 4 × 100 m relay 38.92 Pan American Games Toronto, Canada 4th 100 m 10.12 3rd 4 × 100 m relay 38.69 World Championships London , United Kingdom 50th (h) 100 m 10.75 2016 Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 23rd (h) 100 m 10.20 6th (h) 4 × 100 m relay 37.96 1 2017 World Relays Nassau, Bahamas 11th (h) 4 × 100 m relay 39.44 World Championships London , United Kingdom 29th (h) 100 m 10.26 9th (h) 4 × 100 m relay 38.61 2018 World Indoor Championships Birmingham , United Kingdom 26th (h) 60 m 6.79 Commonwealth Games Gold Coast, Australia 12th (sf) 100 m 10.30 – 4 × 100 m relay DQ Central American and Caribbean Games Barranquilla, Colombia 12th (sf) 100 m 10.35 4th 4 × 100 m relay 38.90 2019 Pan American Games Lima, Peru 8th 100 m 10.43 2nd 4 × 100 m relay 38.46
1 Disqualified in the final
References [ edit ] External links [ edit ]
1912 : David Jacobs , Henry Macintosh , Victor d'Arcy , Willie Applegarth (GBR ) 1920 : Charley Paddock , Jackson Scholz , Loren Murchison , Morris Kirksey (USA ) 1924 : Loren Murchison , Louis Clarke , Frank Hussey , Al LeConey (USA ) 1928 : Frank Wykoff , James Quinn , Charley Borah , Henry Russell (USA ) 1932 : Bob Kiesel , Emmett Toppino , Hector Dyer , Frank Wykoff (USA ) 1936 : Jesse Owens , Ralph Metcalfe , Foy Draper , Frank Wykoff (USA ) 1948 : Barney Ewell , Lorenzo Wright , Harrison Dillard , Mel Patton (USA ) 1952 : Dean Smith , Harrison Dillard , Lindy Remigino , Andy Stanfield (USA ) 1956 : Ira Murchison , Leamon King , Thane Baker , Bobby Morrow (USA ) 1960 : Bernd Cullmann , Armin Hary , Walter Mahlendorf , Martin Lauer (EUA ) 1964 : Paul Drayton , Gerry Ashworth , Richard Stebbins , Bob Hayes (USA ) 1968 : Charles Greene , Mel Pender , Ronnie Ray Smith , Jim Hines (USA ) 1972 : Larry Black , Robert Taylor , Gerald Tinker , Eddie Hart (USA ) 1976 : Harvey Glance , Lam Jones , Millard Hampton , Steve Riddick (USA ) 1980 : Vladimir Muravyov , Nikolay Sidorov , Aleksandr Aksinin , Andrey Prokofyev (URS ) 1984 : Sam Graddy , Ron Brown , Calvin Smith , Carl Lewis (USA ) 1988 : Viktor Bryzhin , Vladimir Krylov , Vladimir Muravyov , Vitaliy Savin (URS ) 1992 : Michael Marsh , Leroy Burrell , Dennis Mitchell , Carl Lewis , James Jett (USA ) 1996 : Robert Esmie , Glenroy Gilbert , Bruny Surin , Donovan Bailey , Carlton Chambers (CAN ) 2000 : Jon Drummond , Bernard Williams , Brian Lewis , Maurice Greene , Tim Montgomery , Kenny Brokenburr (USA ) 2004 : Jason Gardener , Darren Campbell , Marlon Devonish , Mark Lewis-Francis (GBR ) 2008 : Keston Bledman , Marc Burns , Emmanuel Callender , Richard Thompson , Aaron Armstrong (TTO ) 2012 : Nesta Carter , Michael Frater , Yohan Blake , Usain Bolt , Bailey-Cole (JAM ) 2016 : Asafa Powell , Yohan Blake , Nickel Ashmeade , Usain Bolt , Jevaughn Minzie , Kemar Bailey-Cole (JAM ) 2020 : Lorenzo Patta , Marcell Jacobs , Fausto Desalu , Filippo Tortu (ITA )
1926: Mexico (Ahumada , Gómez , Ramírez , Aguilar ) 1930: Cuba (Torriente , Rodríguez , Alfonso , Seino ) 1935: Cuba (Rodríguez , Acosta , Torriente , Verrier ) 1938: Puerto Rico (Villodas , Guerra , Malavé , Vázquez ) 1946: Panama (Loney , Thomas , Clarke , La Beach ) 1950: Cuba (Fortún , Farrés , Mazorra , Wilson ) 1954: Jamaica (LaBeach , Rhoden , Gardner , Laing ) 1959: Venezuela (Bonas , Murad , Esteves , Romero ) 1962: Venezuela (Herrera , Murad , Romero , Esteves ) 1966: Jamaica (Clayton , McNeil , Headley , Fray ) 1970: Cuba (Ramírez , Montes , Morales , Triana ) 1974: Cuba (Triana , Montes , Bandomo , Leonard ) 1978: Trinidad and Tobago (Noel , Crawford , Husbands , Serrette ) 1982: Cuba (Lara , Casañas , Peñalver , Saborit ) 1986: Cuba (Lara , Peñalver , Querol , Simón ) 1990: Cuba (Simón , Peñalver , Stevens , Isasi ) 1993: Cuba (Simón , I. García , Isasi , Aguilera ) 1998: Cuba (A. García , Ortiz , I. García , Pérez ) 2002: Dominican Republic (Matos , Morillo , Sainfleur , Báez ) 2006: Netherlands Antilles (Mariano , Kwidama , Duzant , Martina ) 2010: Trinidad and Tobago (Sorrillo , Burns , Callender , Bledman ) 2014: Cuba (Ruíz , Mena , Luis , Carrero ) 2018: Barbados (Brathwaite , Burke , Ellis , Hoyte ) 2023: Trinidad and Tobago (Hosten , Benjamin , Harrison Jr. , Augustine )