Nationality Trinidad & Tobago Role Track and field athlete Sport Track and field Height 1.80 m | Event(s) Sprinting Weight 88 kg Name Keston Bledman | |
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Born 8 March 1988 (age 36) ( 1988-03-08 ) San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago Personal best(s) 100m: 9.86 (Trinidad 2012)
200m: 20.73 (Lappeenranta 2008) Olympic medals Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 100 metres relay Similar People Richard Thompson, Marc Burns, Emmanuel Callender, Rondel Sorrillo, Nesta Carter | ||
Keston bledman olympic bronze medalist
Keston Bledman, HBM (born 8 March 1988) is a track and field sprint athlete, who competes internationally for Trinidad and Tobago.
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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. 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.
He ran in the first round, but not the final of the men's 4 x 100 m at the 2009 World Championships where Trinidad and Tobago won silver.
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. 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, which is currently tied for the 16th fastest ever. At the 2011 World Championships, he qualified for the 100 m final as one of the fastest losers in the semi-final.
He was also a member of the relay team that won a silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. He was part of the Trinidad and Tobago team 4 x 100 m team that won the bronze at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. He ran in the 100 m and the 4 x 100 m at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
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. He was recruited by Gunness Persad, who became his coach, at Pleasantville Senior Comprehensive sportsday. His first international competition was the 2005 World Youth Championships, were he won an individual bronze. His athletics idol is Hasely Crawford who won the 100 m at the 1976 Olympics for Trinidad and Tobago.