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Jamaican sprint coach Reynaldo Walcott has seen two high-profile departures from his training camp in Fraser-Pryce and Thompson-Herah and here is all you need to know about him.
Jamaican sprint coach Reynaldo Walcott has been thrust into the spotlight following news that Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Elaine Thompson-Herah have left his Elite Performance Track Club.
The two Jamaican sprint legends were the biggest names at Walcott’s stable but he is now left to count his losses after both left over different reasons in search of success at new camps.
Walcott worked with Fraser-Pryce for four years while Thompson-Herah had just joined last November before she made the decision to leave less than a year into the agreement.
So, who is Reynaldo Walcott?
High school coach
Reynaldo Walcott started his coaching at St Elizabeth Technical High School (STETHS) where he led his printers to sweep 100m final at ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships (Champs).
He had attended school at the institution before being appointed a teacher after which his love for sprints saw him become a trainer.
Worked at MVP Track Club
Like Fraser-Pryce and Thompson-Herah, Walcott, who has been training professional sprinters since 2016, also worked at the famed MVP Track Club before he left to start his own camp.
He explained in a previous interview how he made the transition from coaching students to senior pros.
“For the last year, it was different where I had seniors in Kingston and I had the junior programme at STETHS so I was on the road every single day, and at the end of that year, I was so tired and exhausted. I mean, I tried not to feel it while it was happening because I’m very goal driven and I’m focused and once I commit to a task, I try to get it done but afterwards, looking back, it’s not sustainable,” the 36-year-old told the Jamaican Gleaner in 2022.
After the difficulties of balancing his two roles, he opted to stick to one, coaching elite sprinters and it turned out to be a rewarding decision.
Linking up with Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce
In 2020, when Fraser-Pryce left MVP Track Club, she teamed up with Walcott and the two were crucial in establishing Elite Performance Track Club.
“Well, I would have gotten a lot of experience over the years. The most fruitful was last year with Shelly-Ann,” he said in 2020 after seeing Fraser-Pryce win Olympics silver in 100m and lower her personal bests in both 100m and 200m to 10.60 and 21.79 seconds, respectively in 2021.
That was after she had clocked 10.63 seconds at the JAAA Olympic Destiny Series, making her the second-fastest woman alive in 2020, soon after the two had teamed up.
In 2023, Fraser-Pryce was dogged by injuries before going on to claim bronze but she had hoped to right those wrongs this year at the Paris Olympics.
However, she pulled out of her 100m semi-final for reasons she is yet to disclose and has now left Walcott’s camp.
Working with Elaine Thompson-Herah
In November 2023, Walcott’s camp received a major boost when five-time Olympics champion Elaine Thompson-Herah joined, having parted ways with Shanikie Osbourne with a view to changing her fortunes.
He was so thrilled to have them both as they plotted Olympics success.
“I try to observe my notes and figure out which instructions will be of the biggest benefit but also try not to overdo or reinvent anything because they are not novices and they have done a lot of great things. So, it’s a fine line where I want it to turn to this but I do not want it to turn to that,” Walcott told Athletics Weekly in May.
However, Thompson-Herah failed to feature at the Olympics due to an injury sustained in June and after her disappointing season, she has followed Fraser-Pryce out.
Who else is working with Walcott?
Rushell Clayton, two-time world 400m hurdles bronze medallist and quarter-miler Stacey-Ann Williams, are the other big names left at Walcott’s stable and he will be hooping that they do not decamp as he looks to lure other top guns after the big departures.
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