THOUGH he is Jamaica’s third fastest sprint hurdler in history, 21-year-old Hansle Parchment is not taking next year for granted.

“I’m just going to give it my all for next year. I hope to make the Olympic team,” he said modestly.

The 6ft-51/2in World University Games champion clocked a personal best 13.24 seconds to win the 110m hurdles last month in Shenzhen, China.

Only 10 other hurdlers in the world have run quicker than Parchment this year, including compatriot and national record-holder Dwight Thomas, who equalled his personal best of 13.15 seconds last June.

“This has added to my level of motivation. I’m just striving to be the best,” noted the Morant Bay High School past student.

Majoring in psychology at the University of the West Indies, Parchment finished fifth at the National Championships last June with a time of 13.50 seconds.

Hitting down a few hurdles in that final, he said “the race did not go smoothly and it probably was not the right time”.

Since then, Parchment admitted he has “improved greatly, thanks to coach Fitz Coleman, though I still have a far way to go”.

“If it had not been for the hard work and dedication of some very important people such as Mr Coleman, my mom… friends and other family members who constantly motivate me it could not have happened,” he pointed out.

“… The foundation was set from way back in high school while I was training with Mr Rohan Bryan,” he stressed.

While describing his hurdling form as “pretty good”, he believes that world record-holder and Olympic champion Dayron Robles of Cuba “has the best hurdling technique”.

Parchment shot to prominence in 2007 when he won the 110m hurdles at the National Under-18 Championships and represented Jamaica at the World Youth Championships in Ostrava that year. He was eliminated in the semi-final.

In 2008, he was fifth in the Class One 110m hurdles at the ISSA/GraceKennedy High Schools Championships after posting 14.39 seconds. St Jago High’s Ackeem Smith won in 13.83, beating Kingston College’s (KC’s) Keiron Stewart, 13.83, and Calabar High’s Andrew Riley, 14.13.

Camperdown’s Antoniel Thomas was fourth (14.39).

Parchment attended KC in 2009 to win his first gold medal at ‘Champs’. He won the heptathlon, scoring 4,717 points, ahead of Wolmerian Kamal Fuller, 4,581, and Jamaica College’s Kevoy Biggs, 4,330.

Last year, he was second at the National Championships in 14.10 seconds, behind Eric Keddo, who won convincingly in 13.63. Lorne Campbell placed third in 14.12.

Parchment also competed at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, where he finished in a familiar position, fifth, clocking 13.97.

Ryan Brathwaite of Barbados won in 13.39, ahead of Jamaica’s Keddo second, 13.52, and Puerto Rican Hector Cotto, 13.71.

At the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, Parchment again finished fifth in 13.71.

Great Britain swept the medals, with Andy Turner taking gold in 13.38, ahead of countrymen William Sharman, 13.50, and Lawrence Clarke, 13.70.

This year, after placing fifth at the National Championships, he went on to the Central American and Caribbean Championships in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, in July but was disqualified in the final where compatriot Keddo triumphed in a personal best 13.49.

Having won a world title from the World University Games, Parchment is hoping the fifth place curse will be no more.

“Those championships added to my experience and made me a bit more motivated to take my hurdling to the next level,” he said.

Born in Port Morant, Parchment is not sure when he is going pro, though it is “in the pipeline”.

He said he really wanted to major in physiotherapy at UWI, but because of the “intense workload”, he decided to do psychology where he is in the second of a three-year course.

“I want to keep in the sport, helping other athletes when I retire,” Parchment noted.

Thomas (13.15sec) and Maurice Wignall (13.17sec) are the only Jamaicans to have run faster that Parchment.