Trinidad's Keshorn Walcott completed a remarkable double by taking a surprise Olympic javelin gold less than a month after becoming world junior champion.

Trinidad is better associated with cricket - Brian Lara, after all, is the island's favourite son - or sprinting. Their relay team did claim bronze behind Jamaica and the USA.

But now we must think javelin after Saturday night's extraordinary competition in the Olympic Stadium which saw Walcott win gold with a throw of 84.58 metres.

In winning the title Walcott became only the second non-European to take the crown in 100 years of the Olympic Games, the last being an American back at the 1952 Helsinki Games.

He took the lead in the first round with a healthy opener of 83.51 metres and increased it in the second round with 84.58 metres which proved to be enough to win on the night, despite the Ukraine's Oleksandr Pyatnytsya third effort of 84.51 metres with Finn Antti Ruuskanen back in third after a throw of 84.12m.

There had looked to be plenty of potential winners in the field, including defending Olympic champion Andreas Thorkildsen from Norway and the Czech Republic's Vitezslav Vesely, who threw 88.34 metres in the qualifying rounds and is coached by three-time Olympic champion Jan Zelezny.

However, Thorkildsen could only manage sixth as Walcott, just 19, and winner of the world junior title earlier this summer, proved too strong on the night and as a result may just have provided another sporting option for the children of Trinidad.

'I just went out there to relax and enjoy it and it worked for me,' said Walcott, after his second-round effort was good enough for gold.

'It means everything to me. I just train my hardest and try to enjoy every time I come out.'

It was Trinidad and Tobago's first victory in an Olympic field event.

By Ian Stafford

Source: www.dailymail.co.uk