Akeem Stewart

Akeem Stewart joins the Ones to Watch list this year having won double gold at London 2017.

The Tobago man set new F43 world records in both the javelin and shot put on his way to victory at the World Championships last year.

In the shot put event, Stewart added a spectacular 4.87m on to the record mark set by Germany’s Jorg Frischmann back in 1996 as he finished more than three metres clear of his rivals with a best of 19.08m.

Stewart’s javelin throwing – an event he has described as ‘a hobby’ – was equally impressive. His second-round throw of 57.61m – which he achieved from a standing position, he doesn’t use a run-up – added nearly 30cm on to his previous world record set at Rio 2016.

Stewart first hit the headlines in 2015, when he became the first athlete from Trinidad and Tobago to finish top of the podium at the Parapan Am Games.

Stewart won not one, but two gold medals at the event in Toronto, Canada, setting what were then new world records in the javelin (53.36m) and discus (63.03m) F43.

He went on to win discus bronze at the Doha 2015 World Championships two months’ later behind US duo Jeremy Campbell and David Blair, who he had beaten in Toronto.

At Stewart’s first Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro the following year he clinched gold in the javelin F44 as well as silver in the discus F44.

In the javelin, the then 24-year-old opened with a world record throw of 57.23m before adding a further 9cm to that mark with his final effort of the day - a massive 57.32m.

In the discus F44 competition, Stewart threw an impressive 61.72m, but it still wasn’t enough for gold as F44 thrower Blair was in record-breaking form, reaching 64.11m.

He was named 2016 Sportsman of the Year at the Tobago House of Assembly Sport Award as a result of his achievements, then in May 2017 he carried the Queen's Baton in Trinidad and Tobago during the relay ahead of the 2018 Gold Coat Commonwealth Games in Australia.