President of the T&T Olympic Committee Bryan Lewis has praised Cuban-born coach Ismael Lopez Mastrapa for his impact on Olympic gold medallist Keshorn Walcott.
Following an injury-plagued 2013, Walcott bounced back to set new national javelin records at both last month's Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and this weekend's Zurich leg of the IAAF Diamond League.
Lewis said that Mustafah, who has worked with Walcott since 2009, had been instrumental in the 21-year-old's good form.
"Keshorn's success is a reflection of the hard work he has been putting in with his coach and team," he said. "We are blessed to have a coach of Ismael Mustafah's calibre working with our athletes. Obviously his programme is working."
Lewis is attending a preparation forum in Brazil for the Rio 2016 Olympics. He said that while it would be premature to speculate about Walcott bringing home another gold medal in two years time, he was confident about his continued improvement.
"Once good health prevails, Ismael will have athletes where they need to be. He has an excellent understanding of sporting science and long term athletic development. He knows what needs to be done and where athletes need to be at particular points in time."
Meanwhile, NAAA PRO Peter Samuel said that Walcott could take satisfaction from having answered his critics.
"You don't break the national record twice within a month by fluke. A lot of people criticise him without understanding the sport properly. Keshorn is still only 21, which is very young for a javelin thrower. If you check the history of the event, a lot of athletes peak in their late 20s and early 30s. He's still mastering his trade and will get better as the years go by."
Samuel added that Walcott was on course for a stellar career.
"We in T&T like to write people off. He had an injury last year but he is over that now. This season he's got better and better and the sky's the limit for him... I foresee Keshorn throwing into the early 90s range within two years time and barring injury, I think he can be in three more Olympics."