Braian Toledo

Braian Ezequiel Toledo[2] (8 September 1993 – 26 February 2020)[3][4][5] was an Argentine javelin thrower who improved the World Youth Best in boys' javelin throw by more than six metres.[6][note 1]

Braian Toledo
Toledo in 2019
Personal information
Full nameBraian Ezequiel Toledo
Nationality Argentina
Born(1993-09-08)8 September 1993
Marcos Paz, Argentina [1]
Died26 February 2020(2020-02-26) (aged 26)
Height1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight90 kg (198 lb)
Sport
SportField
Event(s)Javelin throw
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)800 g: 83.32 m (Beijing 2015)
700 g: 89.34 m (Mar del Plata 2010)
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Argentina
Pan American Games
2011 GuadalajaraJavelin throw
Ibero-American Championships
2012 BarquisimetoJavelin throw
World Junior Championships
2012 BarcelonaJavelin throw
Pan American Junior Championships
2009 Port-of-SpainJavelin throw
2011 MiramarJavelin throw
Summer Youth Olympics
2010 SingaporeJavelin throw
World Youth Championships
2009 BrixenJavelin throw
South American Under-23 Championships
2012 São PauloJavelin throw
2014 MontevideoJavelin throw
South American Junior Championships
2011 MedellínJavelin throw
2009 São PauloJavelin throw
South American Youth Championships
2010 SantiagoJavelin throw
2008 LimaJavelin throw

He won the inaugural javelin title at the 2010 Youth Olympics in Singapore and also won gold at the 2010 South American Youth Championships and 2009 Pan American Junior Championships.

In 2011 Braian protagonized a publicity spot for the campaign of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in the presidential elections.[8] In 2012 he participated, along with other Olympic athletes, in a campaign of Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo to recover the grandchildren who were robbed during the National Reorganization Process.[9]

Since November 2016 he had Kari Ihalainen as coach and in April 2017 he moved to Kuortane, Finland, with the aim of improving his performance in view of the 2020 Olympic Games.[10][11]

On 26 February 2020, Toledo died in a motorcycle accident.[12] Among those to pay tribute to the athlete were Diego Maradona and president of the Argentine Olympic Committee, Gerardo Werthein.[13]

Youth career

Born and raised in Marcos Paz, Braian Toledo grew up in a small one-bedroom house with his mother and two younger brothers. Athletics coach Gustavo Osorio gave a class at Toledo's school and invited him to join his training group. Initially focused on football – the most prominent and potentially profitable sport in Argentina – Toledo made the decision to focus solely on track and field instead at the age of twelve.[14]

He managed a bronze medal at the South American Youth Championships in 2008.[15] However, it was at the 2009 World Youth Championships in Brixen, Italy that he first made a name for himself.[14] In a very tight final on 23 July, Toledo languished in seventh place until round five, when he threw a new personal best of 73.44 metres.[16] This was enough to win him the bronze against boys a year older, just 56 centimetres from gold.[16]

After that his results improved extremely rapidly.[3] In July he took the silver medal at the 2009 South American Junior Championships in Athletics and then won the gold medal in the 2009 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships, throwing a new age-15 world best of 69.84m with the men's 800 gram implement.[4][17] Later in the year, he made large improvements to his personal best with the youth javelin,[3][18] with his eventual best mark of 79.25, thrown in Córdoba on 11 October, the top mark that year among throwers born in 1993 or later.[18]

World Youth Bests

On 13 February 2010, Toledo improved his personal best by more than five metres with a first-round throw of 84.85 metres in Buenos Aires, Argentina.[3][19] This by a comfortable margin eclipsed the world youth best of 83.02, set the previous year by Russia's Valeriy Iordan.[4][19] He then made a huge improvement to the world best on 6 March 2010, in Mar del Plata, throwing a new record of 89.34, again on his first attempt.[2][20] This mark was some 25 metres up from his personal best just a year before.[6]

Toledo won the javelin at the inaugural 2010 Youth Olympics, contested in the city-state of Singapore in August 2010. His winning mark of 81.78 was almost five metres ahead of United States' Devin Bogert in second place.[21] He won the national youth title in September with a throw of 85.64 m (his second best ever) and in October he competed at the South American Youth Championships, easily securing victory with the third best ever throw for a youth athlete.[22]

Junior career

In late 2010, Toledo started competing with the 800 g standard javelin. He broke the Argentine juniors record with a 71.12 m throw on 23 October, and then broke his own record another four times during the 2010 Evita Games held in Mar del Plata on November, with his best mark at 73.07 m.[23] He was awarded the Olimpia de Plata by Argentine sport journalists at the end of the year, acknowledging his position as the best Argentine in the sport of athletics. Despite Toledo's raised profile and the growing expectations nationally, his coach Osorio stated that both of them were more focused on training and improving. Osorio also pointed out that much had been achieved, in spite of the lack of high-quality facilities in the region.[14]

In his last year as a junior, Toledo won the silver medal in the 2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics in Barcelona.[24] He claimed the javelin title at the 2012 Ibero-American Championships in Athletics and the following month he threw an Argentine and South American junior record of 79.87 metres. He made his Olympic debut at the 2012 London Games, but did not progress beyond qualifying. He won the gold medal at the 2012 South American Under-23 Championships in Athletics with a championship record throw.[25]

Competition record
YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
Representing  Argentina
2008 South American Youth Championships Lima, Peru 3rd Javelin throw (700 g) 60.41 m
2009 World Youth Championships Brixen, Italy 3rd Javelin throw (700 g) 73.44 m
South American Junior Championships São Paulo, Brazil 2nd Javelin throw 69.63 m
Pan American Junior Championships Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago 1st Javelin throw 69.84 m
2010 Youth Olympic Games Singapore 1st Javelin throw 81.78 m
South American Youth Championships Santiago, Chile 1st Javelin throw (700 g) 85.32 m
2011 South American Championships Buenos Aires, Argentina 4th Javelin throw 71.05 m
Pan American Junior Championships Miramar, United States 1st Javelin throw 76.40 m
South American Junior Championships Medellín, Colombia 1st Javelin throw 74.04 m
Pan American Games Guadalajara, Mexico 3rd Javelin throw 79.53 m
2012 Ibero-American Championships Barquisimeto, Venezuela 1st Javelin throw 77.33 m
World Junior Championships Barcelona, Spain 2nd Javelin throw 77.09 m
Olympic Games London, United Kingdom 30th (q) Javelin throw 76.87 m
South American Under-23 Championships São Paulo, Brazil 1st Javelin throw 78.49 m
2013 South American Championships Cartagena, Colombia 3rd Javelin throw 75.33 m
2014 South American Games Santiago, Chile 5th Javelin throw 72.52 m
South American Under-23 Championships Montevideo, Uruguay 1st Javelin throw 77.75 m
2015 South American Championships Lima, Peru 2nd Javelin throw 79.34 m
Pan American Games Toronto, Canada 4th Javelin throw 77.68 m
World Championships Beijing, China 10th Javelin throw 80.27 m
2016 Ibero-American Championships Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 4th Javelin throw 78.53 m
Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 10th Javelin throw 79.81 m
2017 South American Championships Asunción, Paraguay 1st Javelin throw 79.93 m
World Championships London, United Kingdom 28th (q) Javelin throw 75.29 m
2018 South American Games Cochabamba, Bolivia 3rd Javelin throw 78.57 m

Seasonal bests by year
  • 2009 – 69.84 m
  • 2010 – 73.07
  • 2011 – 79.53
  • 2012 – 79.87
  • 2013 – 78.66
  • 2014 – 77.75
  • 2015 – 83.32 NR
  • 2016 – 81.96
  • 2017 – 80.83
  • 2018 – 78.57
  • 2019 – 76.35

Notes
  1. The mark is termed a World Best Performance (rather than World Record) as the sport's governing body, IAAF, does not officially ratify world youth records.[7] The implement used was the current youth standard 700 g javelin,[4][7] as opposed to the 800 g junior and adult men's javelin.[7]

References
  1. "Un chico llamado Toledo" (in Spanish). ESPN Deportes. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  2. "Otro impacto de Braian Toledo: 89,34 metros" (in Spanish). Confederación Argentina de Atletismo. 6 March 2010. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
  3. Üürike, Hans. "16-year-old javelin miracle Braian Toledo-84.85!". Team75plus. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
  4. Biscayart, Eduardo (14 February 2010). "Argentina's Toledo improves World Youth best in Javelin". IAAF. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
  5. https://internewscast.com/argentine-javelin-thrower-dies-in-motorcycle-crash-months-before-the-tokyo-olympics/
  6. Üürike, Hans (7 March 2010). "Braian Toledo: NEW WORLD YOUTH RECORD 89.34!!!". Team75plus. Archived from the original on 16 June 2010. Retrieved 8 March 2010.
  7. "IAAF Competition Rules 2008" (PDF). IAAF. Archived from the original (pdf) on 25 March 2009. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
  8. "Braian Toledo, el preferido de Cristina" (in Spanish). Los Andes. 14 October 2011. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  9. "Los atletas olímpicos participaron en campaña de las Abuelas" (in Spanish). Télam. 19 July 2012. Archived from the original on 20 July 2012. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  10. Jonatan Fabbian. "Entrevista Braian Toledo". mundialdefondo.com. Archived from the original on 10 August 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  11. Saúl, Javier. "Braian Toledo: "Me fui a Finlandia porque me cansé de que me ganaran siempre"". Canchallena. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  12. "Olympic-bound Argentine javelin thrower Braian Toledo dies in motorbike accident". India Today. 28 February 2020. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  13. Wyllie, James (2 March 2020). Obituary: Braian Toledo, javelin champion. Press and Journal. Retrieved 2020-03-16.
  14. Biscayart, Eduardo (7 January 2011). Toledo, throwing to the future. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-01-08.
  15. 2008 South American Youth Championships Archived 31 August 2013 at the Wayback Machine. WJAH. Retrieved on 8 January 2011.
  16. "World Youth Championships 2009 - Results 07-12-2009 - Javelin Throw (700g) m Final". IAAF. 12 July 2009. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
  17. Biscayart, Eduardo (27 July 2009). Brazilian Hederson Estefani steals the show - South American Junior Champs. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-10-16.
  18. Ottavio Castellini/IAAF. "Javelin Throw (700g) Youth 2009". Retrieved 7 March 2010.
  19. "Record mundial de Braian Toledo" (in Spanish). Confederación Argentina de Atletismo. 13 February 2010. Archived from the original on 17 February 2010. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
  20. Biscayart, Eduardo (7 March 2010). "Toledo continues to improve Javelin World Youth Best". IAAF. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
  21. "Results BOYS JAVELIN A FINAL". Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee. 22 August 2010. Archived from the original on 25 August 2010. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
  22. Biscayart, Eduardo (11 October 2010). Toledo, Arévalo and Ballivián shine at South American Youth Championships. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-10-16.
  23. "Toledo: cuatro nuevos records nacionales, y la vuelta a sus raíces". Cancha Llena (in Spanish). 4 November 2010. Retrieved 5 November 2010.
  24. Braian Toledo ganó en su primera presentación del año (in Spanish)
  25. Biscayart, Eduardo (24 September 2012). Brazil dominates South American Under-23 Champs. IAAF. Retrieved on 27 January 2013.
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