KINGSTON, Jamaica — Hansle Parchment, the 110m hurdles bronze medallist at the 2012 London Olympics, is set to open his track and field season at the 39th staging of the Gibson/McCook Relays inside the National Stadium, today.

The 110m hurdles national record holder is expected to line up in the 4X400m relays for the University of the West Indies.

Parchment will be using the meet as part of his early season preparations as he continues his progression ahead of the national trials. The University of the West Indies student was among the world’s best in 2014, as he sent early season warnings when his 13.14 seconds set in Des Moines at the Drake Relays was the world leading mark.

He then later returned a time of 12.94 seconds at the Paris IAAF Diamond League meeting, to set the Jamaican national record before having an abrupt end to the season due to injury.

The dynamic hurdler will now be looking to return to his best in 2015 as he prepares for the IAAF World Championships in Beijing, China, and a sound performance in his first outing of the season is expected when he takes to the track.

“I am excited about getting out on the track. Training has been going good for the most part, with a lot of background work focusing on strength and technical work, so the season opener should be good in terms of assessing that work which has been going on in training. I am up for the challenge of the 4X400m, so it should be an exciting race,” said Parchment.

The Olympic bronze medallist is also looking ahead to the 2015 World Championships and the Rio 2016 Olympics as he has every intention of returning to the podium.

“I am aiming for the top. I definitely am focused firstly on the national trials to defend my title and then on a return to the World Championships where I will have all intent on making the final and the podium,” he concluded.