STARKVILLE – Spending his summer competing across Europe to prepare for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, Anderson Peters is a long way from where his athletic career began.
In 2009, Usain Bolt broke the world record in the 200m at the World Championships. Peters recalls being twelve-years-old and in the midst of becoming an athlete when Bolt became "the hottest topic in the Caribbean."
"Everybody wanted to be a sprinter," he remembered. "Including me."
He tried his hardest to be one but kept getting injured in the process. His coach had him try other events, including the discus, long jump, and shot put before they gave him a javelin. It was the last event he'd try.
He started beating the seniors in his country and eventually won his first CARIFTA medal, while breaking the meet record, in 2012. That's when he realized he could really have a future in the event, especially when Trinidadian Keshorn Walcott, the previous CARIFTA record holder, won the javelin gold medal that same year at the Olympic Games in London.
Peters didn't go from novice to World Champion overnight. He became an avid student of his craft.
His studies of the javelin started with watching videos of Finland's Tero Pitkämäki and Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway.
Thorkildsen was the Olympic Champion in 2004 and 2008, the European Champion in 2006 and 2010, as well as the World Champion in 2009. He also holds the Norwegian record and is 10th on the all-time world top 25 list for the modern javelin throw. Pitkämäki won gold at the World Championships in 2007 and is 11th on the all-time global list as well.
Nearly a decade later, Peters has now met many of the javelin throwers who were so influential to him.
At his first World Championships in 2017, held in London, he was meeting all of his idols at once: Pitkämäki, Thorkildsen, Germany's Thomas Röhler and Johannes Vetter and more.
"I got distracted for a bit," said Peters. "I realized I had to compete the next day and I wasn't ready mentally, so I underperformed and didn't make the finals. That was okay for my first time, but I was pretty upset. I was ready for the next World Championships the day after."
When he met Thorkildsen at the meet, the Norwegian offered Peters some advice to help him throw farther, and he's not the only idol Peters has had that gave him tips for his performance.
In May, he competed at the Zlatá Tretra, or Golden Spike, meet in Ostrava, Czech Republic. There, he was on a panel with Jan Železný and Vetter ahead of the competition.
Železný, a Czech himself, holds the world record for the modern javelin with a mark at 98.48m, and is a multiple World and Olympic Champion. He is considered the greatest javelin thrower of the modern era, also holding the third, fourth and fifth best performances of all time in addition to his record.
Over time, Vetter and Peters have become friends as they have competed so many times together. Peters had met Železný several other times but had the chance to really sit and talk with the master in Ostrava.
Johannes Vetter, Anderson Peters, and Jan Železný at the Zlatá Tretra.
"It was a crazy experience," remarked Peters. "Not often do you get to have a long conversation with the world record holder of your event. He was giving me some pointers, and my first question was how he was able to be the Olympic Champion three times. His advice was to train for the Olympics, stay healthy in that year, and at the meet, anything can happen. It was a nice moment for me."
Peters tries to put advice into effect as soon as possible because he wants to know if their tips work. According to him, the advice he receives is usually effective.
Now, the dust has settled, and he knows he's one of them.
It really hit him when he threw 86m for the first time at the 2019 edition of the Texas Relays in Austin. He thought to himself that he really was up there with the rest of the greats then.
"At that moment, I felt like I earned my spot," said Peters. "I'm doing what they're doing."
With the COVID-19 pandemic cancelling the 2020 season, Peters has automatically qualified for the Olympics as the reigning World Champion. He will proudly represent the Bulldogs on the Grenadian Team in Tokyo beginning on August 4.
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