# Keston Bledman

Keston Bledman, HBM (born 8 March 1988) is a track and field sprint athlete, who competes internationally for Trinidad and Tobago.
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. In 2022, Bledman and his teammates received the gold medal due to Jamaica's Nesta Carter testing positive for the prohibited substance methylhexaneamine.
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.
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 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.
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 × 100 m team that won the bronze at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. He ran in the 100 m and the 4 × 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, where he won an individual bronze. His athletics idol is Hasely Crawford who won the 100 m at the 1976 Olympics for Trinidad and Tobago.

## 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) |
| 2005 | CARIFTA Games (U-20) | Bacolet, Trinidad and Tobago | 1st | 4 × 100 m relay | 41.05 |
| 2005 | World Youth Championships | Marrakesh, Morocco | 3rd | 100 m | 10.55 |
| 2005 | World Youth Championships | Marrakesh, Morocco | 2nd | Sprint medley relay | 1:52.51 |
| 2006 | CARIFTA Games (U-20) | Les Abymes, Guadeloupe | 2nd | 100 m | 10.57 (0.0 m/s) |
| 2006 | Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships (U-20) | Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago | 2nd | 100 m | 10.39 (+1.5 m/s) |
| 2006 | Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships (U-20) | Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago | 4th | 4 × 100 m relay | 40.80 |
| 2006 | World Junior Championships | Beijing, China | 7th | 100 m | 10.47 (-0.5 m/s) |
| 2006 | World Junior Championships | Beijing, China | 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) |
| 2007 | Pan American Junior Championships | São Paulo, Brazil | 1st | 100 m | 10.32 |
| 2007 | Pan American Junior Championships | São Paulo, Brazil | 2nd | 4 × 100 m relay | 40.11 |
| 2007 | Pan American Games | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 9th (sf) | 100 m | 10.34 |
| 2007 | Pan American Games | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 4th | 4 × 100 m relay | 39.23 |
| 2007 | World Championships | Osaka, Japan | 22nd (qf) | 100 m | 10.33 |
| 2008 | Central American and Caribbean Championships | Cali, Colombia | 10th (sf) | 100 m | 10.38 |
| 2008 | Central American and Caribbean Championships | Cali, Colombia | 1st | 4 × 100 m relay | 38.54 |
| 2008 | Olympic Games | Beijing, China | 1st | 4 × 100 m relay | 38.06 |
| 2009 | Central American and Caribbean Championships | Havana, Cuba | 6th | 100 m | 10.29 |
| 2009 | Central American and Caribbean Championships | Havana, Cuba | 1st | 4 × 100 m relay | 38.73 |
| 2009 | 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) |
| 2010 | Central American and Caribbean Games | Mayagüez, Puerto Rico | 7th | 100 m | 10.32 |
| 2010 | Central American and Caribbean Games | Mayagüez, Puerto Rico | 1st | 4 × 100 m relay | 38.24 |
| 2011 | Central American and Caribbean Championships | Mayagüez, Puerto Rico | 1st | 100 m | 10.05 |
| 2011 | Central American and Caribbean Championships | Mayagüez, Puerto Rico | 2nd | 4 × 100 m relay | 38.89 |
| 2011 | World Championships | Daegu, South Korea | 8th (sf) | 100 m | 10.14 |
| 2011 | World Championships | Daegu, South Korea | 6th | 4 × 100 m relay | 39.01 |
| 2012 | Olympic Games | London, United Kingdom | 9th (sf) | 100 m | 10.04 |
| 2012 | Olympic Games | London, United Kingdom | 2nd | 4 × 100 m relay | 38.12 |
| 2013 | World Championships | Moscow, Russia | 11th (sf) | 100 m | 10.08 |
| 2013 | World Championships | Moscow, Russia | 7th | 4 × 100 m relay | 38.57 |
| 2014 | World Relays | Nassau, Bahamas | 2nd | 4 × 100 m relay | 38.04 |
| 2014 | Commonwealth Games | Glasgow, United Kingdom | 14th (sf) | 100 m | 10.24 |
| 2014 | Commonwealth Games | Glasgow, United Kingdom | 3rd | 4 × 100 m relay | 38.10 |
| 2015 | World Relays | Nassau, Bahamas | 7th | 4 × 100 m relay | 38.92 |
| 2015 | Pan American Games | Toronto, Canada | 4th | 100 m | 10.12 |
| 2015 | Pan American Games | Toronto, Canada | 3rd | 4 × 100 m relay | 38.69 |
| 2015 | World Championships | London, United Kingdom | 50th (h) | 100 m | 10.75 |
| 2016 | Olympic Games | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 23rd (h) | 100 m | 10.20 |
| 2016 | Olympic Games | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | 6th (h) | 4 × 100 m relay | 37.96$^1$ |
| 2017 | World Relays | Nassau, Bahamas | 11th (h) | 4 × 100 m relay | 39.44 |
| 2017 | World Championships | London, United Kingdom | 29th (h) | 100 m | 10.26 |
| 2017 | World Championships | London, United Kingdom | 9th (h) | 4 × 100 m relay | 38.61 |
| 2018 | World Indoor Championships | Birmingham, United Kingdom | 26th (h) | 60 m | 6.79 |
| 2018 | Commonwealth Games | Gold Coast, Australia | 12th (sf) | 100 m | 10.30 |
| 2018 | Commonwealth Games | Gold Coast, Australia | – | 4 × 100 m relay | DQ |
| 2018 | Central American and Caribbean Games | Barranquilla, Colombia | 12th (sf) | 100 m | 10.35 |
| 2018 | Central American and Caribbean Games | Barranquilla, Colombia | 4th | 4 × 100 m relay | 38.90 |
| 2019 | Pan American Games | Lima, Peru | 8th | 100 m | 10.43 |
| 2019 | Pan American Games | Lima, Peru | 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 |