Walcotts misses out in

Trinidad and Tobago’s two-time Olympic medallist Keshorn Walcott came up short in his bid to end his podium drought, finishing fourth in the men’s javelin final at the Wanda Diamond League at Stade Olympique de la Pontaise in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Friday (August 21).

​The 33-year-old Walcott, who recently missed out on medals at both the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, and the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in the Dominican Republic, posted a season best mark of 83.71 metres on his fourth attempt. This improved on his previous season-best of 83.45m set at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy, on June 4.

​Earlier in the event, the Toco-born athlete opened with a distance of 77.64m, followed by an improved attempt of 80.95m, before fouling his third effort. Walcott then landed his top distance of 83.71m on his fourth throw, before wrapping up with an 80.04m effort in the fifth round.

​Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage, 23, won his third Diamond League event of the season, narrowly edging India’s Neeraj Chopra. Both Pathirage and Chopra surpassed the 88-metre mark; however, world leader Pathirage claimed victory with a third-round throw of 88.14m to beat Chopra’s season-best of 88.05m from the second round. Grenada’s Anderson Peters, a two-time world champion, finished third with a best throw of 86.69m.

​Earlier this month, Walcott, an Olympic gold and bronze medal winner, failed to defend his CAC Games javelin title, surprisingly missing out on the podium with a fourth-place finish in the nine-man final.

Walcott, who won the World Championship gold last year and placed sixth at the recent Commonwealth Games in Glasgow with a best throw of 82.55m, had a best attempt of 80.92m on his second throw in Santo Domingo as he relinquished hold of the title he won last time out in San Salvador, El Salvador, with a best of 83.60m.

Taking the bronze medal ahead of Walcott was 30-year-old Colombian Billy Julio with an attempt of 81.02m while Peters, 28, won gold with a distance of 83.95m, and Costa Rican Ivan Sibaja, 26, got silver via his best effort of 82.15m, on his first attempt.