Vernon Charles, the grandfather of T&T's Olympic Gold and bronze medallists in the javelin throw Keshorn Walcott, has died.
The 88-year-old died on Saturday at 10 am at his home on Lanse Noire Village in Toco, a month after he was said to have suffered a couple of seizures. Yesterday the family was set to break the sad news to Keshorn who is in Tokyo, Japan for the Olympic Games scheduled to take place from July 23 to August 8.
The news can either have a devastating effect on Walcott or it can inspire him to do well. His first cousin Faith Walcott said she was unsure of how Keshorn would deal with the news of his grandfather's passing, since he was very close to his grandfather, however, she believes his grandfather's angels will guide and follow him throughout the Olympics.
"I actually feel confident that he will win a gold medal again. The last time Keshorn won a gold medal at the Olympics in 2012 England, his great grandfather Andrew Walcott had died also, and I saw him throwing with a lot of emotions, a lot of determination, and he won the gold medal, so maybe this is an act of God again," Faith said.
Walcott's performances for the year, have been improving steadily and it could see him peak at the right time.
Following a reported nine-month layoff from the sport due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other issues, Walcott returned to competitive action in May this year, where he got his campaign off with a bronze medal at the Ostrava Golden Spike Games in the Czech Republic with a throw that measured 82.75 metres.
Soon after Walcott secured a silver medal at the 2021 Wanda Diamond League in Gateshead, England despite an under-par performance of 77.78 metres.
His progress continued, however, as he delivered an 82.84-metres throw at the Paava Nurmi Games in Finland last month, before producing a season's-best 89.12 metres distance which landed him the silver medal at the Kuortane Games in Finland, also last month.
There, Walcott was beaten by German Johannes Vetter, the 2017 World Champion, who obliterated the field with a mammoth 93.59 metres throw for the gold medal.
At those Meets for the year, Walcott had been without his coach Ismael Lopez Mustrapa, due to visa problems.
However, with Walcott's performances improving daily, T&T can be in for a big throw in Tokyo. Walcott will begin the qualifiers on August 4 with the final expected for August 7.