Keston Bledman

Keston Bledman, HBM (born 8 March 1988) is a track and field sprint athlete, who competes internationally for Trinidad and Tobago.^[2]

Keston Bledman

Keston Bledman at the 2012 Olympics in London
Personal information
Born	(1988-03-08) 8 March 1988 (age 36)[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 Men's Athletics Representing  Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Games 2008 Beijing 4×100 m relay 2012 London 4×100 m relay Commonwealth Games 2014 Glasgow 4×100 m relay Pan American Games 2019 Lima 4×100 m relay 2015 Toronto 4×100 m relay CAC Championships 2008 Cali 4×100 m relay 2009 Havanna 4×100 m relay 2011 Mayagüez 100 m 2011 Mayagüez 4×100 m relay Pan American Junior Championships 2007 São Paulo 100 m 2007 São Paulo 4×100 m relay World Youth Championships 2005 Marrakech Medley relay 2005 Marrakech 100 m

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

His 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

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

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing  Trinidad and Tobago
2005	CARIFTA Games (U-20)	Bacolet, Trinidad and Tobago	8th	100 m	10.79 (+1.7 m/s)
			1st	4 × 100 m relay	41.05
	World Youth Championships	Marrakesh, Morocco	3rd	100 m	10.55
			2nd	Sprint medley relay	1:52.51
2006	CARIFTA Games (U-20)	Les Abymes, Guadeloupe	2nd	100 m	10.57 (0.0 m/s)
	Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships (U-20)	Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago	2nd	100 m	10.39 (+1.5 m/s)
			4th	4 × 100 m relay	40.80
	World Junior Championships	Beijing, China	7th	100 m	10.47 (-0.5 m/s)
			54th (h)	200 m	25.57 (-0.6 m/s)
2007	CARIFTA Games (U-20)	Providenciales, Turks and Caicos	2nd	100 m	10.41 (+1.2 m/s)
	Pan American Junior Championships	São Paulo, Brazil	1st	100 m	10.32
			2nd	4 × 100 m relay	40.11
	Pan American Games	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	9th (sf)	100 m	10.34
			4th	4 × 100 m relay	39.23
	World Championships	Osaka, Japan	22nd (qf)	100 m	10.33
2008	Central American and Caribbean Championships	Cali, Colombia	10th (sf)	100 m	10.38
			1st	4 × 100 m relay	38.54
	Olympic Games	Beijing, China	1st	4 × 100 m relay	38.06
2009	Central American and Caribbean Championships	Havana, Cuba	6th	100 m	10.29
			1st	4 × 100 m relay	38.73
	World Championships	Berlin, Germany	2nd (h)	4 × 100 m relay	38.47
2010	NACAC U23 Championships	Miramar, Florida, United States	4th	100 m	10.19 (+1.7 m/s)
	Central American and Caribbean Games	Mayagüez, Puerto Rico	7th	100 m	10.32
			1st	4 × 100 m relay	38.24
2011	Central American and Caribbean Championships	Mayagüez, Puerto Rico	1st	100 m	10.05
			2nd	4 × 100 m relay	38.89
	World Championships	Daegu, South Korea	8th (sf)	100 m	10.14
			6th	4 × 100 m relay	39.01
2012	Olympic Games	London, United Kingdom	9th (sf)	100 m	10.04
			2nd	4 × 100 m relay	38.12
2013	World Championships	Moscow, Russia	11th (sf)	100 m	10.08
			7th	4 × 100 m relay	38.57
2014	World Relays	Nassau, Bahamas	2nd	4 × 100 m relay	38.04
	Commonwealth Games	Glasgow, United Kingdom	14th (sf)	100 m	10.24
			3rd	4 × 100 m relay	38.10
2015	World Relays	Nassau, Bahamas	7th	4 × 100 m relay	38.92
	Pan American Games	Toronto, Canada	4th	100 m	10.12
			3rd	4 × 100 m relay	38.69
	World Championships	London, United Kingdom	50th (h)	100 m	10.75
2016	Olympic Games	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	23rd (h)	100 m	10.20
			6th (h)	4 × 100 m relay	37.961
2017	World Relays	Nassau, Bahamas	11th (h)	4 × 100 m relay	39.44
	World Championships	London, United Kingdom	29th (h)	100 m	10.26
			9th (h)	4 × 100 m relay	38.61
2018	World Indoor Championships	Birmingham, United Kingdom	26th (h)	60 m	6.79
	Commonwealth Games	Gold Coast, Australia	12th (sf)	100 m	10.30
			–	4 × 100 m relay	DQ
	Central American and Caribbean Games	Barranquilla, Colombia	12th (sf)	100 m	10.35
			4th	4 × 100 m relay	38.90
2019	Pan American Games	Lima, Peru	8th	100 m	10.43
			2nd	4 × 100 m relay	38.46

¹ Disqualified in the final.

Track records

As 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

1. "Keston Bledman". Olympedia.org. OlyMADmen. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
2. "Athlete biography: Keston Bledman". Beijing2008.cn. Archived from the original on 9 September 2008. Retrieved 29 August 2008.
3. Laurence, Kwame. "IAAF: Keston Bledman | Profile - Focus on Athletes Biography". iaaf.org. Archived from the original on 10 September 2013. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
4. "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.
5. "Tyson Gay runs world-best 100 this year in Clermont". Orlando Sentinel. 4 June 2011. Archived from the original on 6 September 2012.
6. Lawrence, Kwame (25 June 2012). Bledman wins Trinidad and Tobago title in 9.86. IAAF. Retrieved on 9 July 2012.
7. "London 2012 4x100m relay men Results - Olympic athletics".
8. "Glasgow 2014 - Keston Bledman Profile". g2014results.thecgf.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 July 2017.
9. "Men's 100m". 22 August 2016. Archived from the original on 22 August 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2017.

External links

• Keston Bledman at World Athletics