Keston Bledman, HBM (born 8 March 1988) is a track and field sprint athlete, who competes internationally for Trinidad and Tobago.[2]
 Keston Bledman at the 2012 Olympics in London | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 8 March 1988[1] San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 88 kg (194 lb)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Track and field | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event | Sprinting | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal best(s) | 100m: 9.86 (Trinidad 2012) 200m: 20.73 (Lappeenranta 2008) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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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
editHis 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 bests
edit| Distance | Time | venue |
|---|---|---|
| 100 m | 9.86 s (+1.4 m/s) | Port-of-Spain, Trinidad (23 June 2012) |
| 200 m | 20.73 s | Lappeenranta, Finland (3 August 2008) |
International competitions
edit1 Disqualified in the final.
Track records
editAs of 9 September 2024, Bledman holds the following track records for 100 metres.
| Location | Time | Windspeed m/s |
Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arima | 10.08 | 0.0 | 10/05/2014 |
| Mayagüez, Puerto Rico | 10.05 | – 0.5 | 15/07/2011 |
| Orlando | 9.89 | + 0.9 | 26/05/2012 |
| Sotteville-lès-Rouen | 10.02 | + 0.6 | 06/07/2015 |
| Toronto | 9.95 | + 2.8 | 21/07/2015 |
References
edit- ^ a b c d "Keston Bledman". Olympedia.org. OlyMADmen. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
- ^ a b "Athlete biography: Keston Bledman". Beijing2008.cn. Archived from the original on 9 September 2008. Retrieved 29 August 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g Laurence, Kwame. "IAAF: Keston Bledman | Profile - Focus on Athletes Biography". iaaf.org. Archived from the original on 10 September 2013. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
- ^ "Medal reallocation in action: Trinidad and Tobago get men's 4x100m relay gold from Beijing 2008". International Olympic Committee. 5 July 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
- ^ "Tyson Gay runs world-best 100 this year in Clermont". Orlando Sentinel. 4 June 2011. Archived from the original on 6 September 2012.
- ^ Lawrence, Kwame (25 June 2012). Bledman wins Trinidad and Tobago title in 9.86. IAAF. Retrieved on 9 July 2012.
- ^ "London 2012 4x100m relay men Results - Olympic athletics".
- ^ "Glasgow 2014 - Keston Bledman Profile". g2014results.thecgf.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 July 2017.
- ^ "Men's 100m". 22 August 2016. Archived from the original on 22 August 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
