Olympic champion Keston Bledman was welcomed home on Thursday, two days after receiving his 2008 Beijing Games men’s 4x100 metres gold medal in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Bledman, Marc Burns, Emmanuel Callender, Richard “Torpedo” Thompson and Aaron Armstrong all made the trip to Lausanne for the Medal Reallocation Ceremony, hosted at the Olympic Museum.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach presented the gold medals to the T&T sprinters.

Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) president Diane Henderson also attended the ceremony and presented flowers to the quintet. Second in the Beijing 2008 4x1 final, T&T were promoted to gold as a result of Jamaican Nesta Carter’s doping violation.

First Citizens Sports Foundation committee member Kwame Laurence and TTOC immediate past president Brian Lewis were at Piarco on Thursday to greet Bledman on his return home.

Also at Piarco were 2022 Caribbean Youth Table Tennis Championship boys’ under-19 singles bronze medallist Derron Douglas who was a youth nominee for the 2021 First Citizens Sports Foundation Awards.

Bledman last competed in 2021. He is now retired and has switched his focus to coaching. He lives in Florida with his wife Afiya Bledman (formerly Walker) and their daughters, Zion and Zendaya.