Javelin thrower Keshorn Walcott was named the T&T Olympic Committee (TTOC) “Sportsman of the Year” for the third time in his career.
The 2012 Olympic Games men’s javelin champion shared the spotlight with sprinter Leah Bertrand, who was honoured as “Sportswoman of the Year” at the TTOC’s 31st awards ceremony held at Queen’s Hall in St Ann’s, Port-of-Spain, on Monday.
The 2025 season was a historic, career-defining year for Walcott. At 32 years old, he secured his first world title, 13 years after his famous Olympic victory in London. Walcott’s season reached its peak on September 18, when he won the gold medal in the men’s javelin throw at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan, with a season-best mark of 88.16 metres. Following his historic gold in Tokyo, Walcott was named a Sport Ambassador for T&T in September.
Bertrand’s season was marked by breaking programme records at Ohio State University and successfully defending her national title at the National Association of Athletics Administrations T&T (NAAATT) earlier this year. At the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Outdoor Championships, she secured two top-five finishes, placing fourth in the 200m (22.60 seconds) and fifth in the 100m (11.21).
She also set a programme record for Ohio State in the 100 m with a time of 10.92 s, becoming the first woman in the school’s history to run a wind-legal, sub-11.00 time. Bertrand retained her 100m crown at the 2025 National Gas Company/NAAATT Senior Track and Field Championships, winning with a time of 11.04, her third national 100m title in four years. Internationally, she also competed at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in both the 100 m and 200 m events.
The respective Junior “Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year” awards went to quartermiler Jaden Marchan and cyclist Makaira Wallace. Marchan had a standout season highlighted by a silver medal at the Junior Pan American Games, where he placed second in the men’s 400 metres final with a personal best of 45.80.
Wallace completed a historic debut season as a senior (elite) athlete. After transitioning from the junior ranks at the start of the year, she became the first female sprinter from her nation to qualify for the UCI Track Cycling World Championships. She climbed to 23rd in the UCI Women’s Elite World Rankings this month.
She capped off her year with two medals, silver in the women’s sprint and bronze in the keirin, at the Bolivarian Games in Lima, Peru, earlier in December. Despite moving to the senior level, she remained eligible to compete at the Junior Pan American Games in August, where she won three bronze medals in the team sprint, individual sprint, and keirin. At the UCI Nations Cup in Turkey in March, Wallace set a new national women’s flying 200m record with a time of 10.784 seconds. Locally, at the National Championships, the 19-year-old was crowned the national women’s U-23/Elite keirin champion. Wallace also copped the TTOC’s People’s Choice award.
In other awards presented at the annual function, running sensation Jereem Richards was named “Sports Personality of the Year”, sprinter Shaniqua Bascombe received the “Future is Female” award, and Joyce Walker-Thomas was the recipient of the Alex B. Chapman Award.
TTOC 2025 Honour Roll
Senior Sportsman of the Year: Keshorn Walcott (Athletics)
Senior Sportswoman of the Year: Leah Bertrand (Athletics)
Junior Sportswoman of the Year: Makaira Wallace (Cycling)
Junior Sportsman of the Year: Jaden Marchan (Athletics)
Sports Personality of the Year: Jereem Richards (Athletics)
Future is Female Award: Shaniqua Bascombe (Athletics)
Alex B. Chapman Award: Joyce Walker-Thomas (Athletics)
People’s Choice Award: Makaira Wallace (Cycling)
