National 400m champion Javon ‘Donkey Man’ Francis is a man on a mission. His Akan coach Michael Clarke thinks he is right where he is supposed to be at this time of the season, and the Racers Grand Prix will show exactly where he is at just four weeks before Jamaica’s National Trials.

“I think he is right on target and I am waiting to see what will happen at the Racers Grand Prix,” Clarke told the

Jamaica Observer yesterday.

“So far, it’s pretty good, but the biggest concern is to keep him healthy… once he stays healthy, who knows what will be the outcome,” said Clarke.

Francis, 21, has been showing very good form, winning his last two races on European soil and twice had behind him American 2004 Olympic champion Jeremy Wariner.

“This is the first time since he has left high school that he is travelling and performing. We just want to see how he adapts and is transitioning to that kind of professional status,” noted Clarke, who has been his coach since high school.

“So far, he seems to have dealt with it pretty well and we’re just waiting to see how he adapts further on a more demanding part to being a professional athlete,” he added.

Francis won the 400m at the Blankers-Koen meeting in Hengelo, Holland, in 45.35 seconds, with Wariner third with 46.33 seconds. Two days before, he won at the Golden Spikes meeting in Ostrava, Czech Republic, in 44.87 seconds, his third-best time so far this year — and had behind him American Tony McQuay (45.17 seconds), World Indoor champion Pavel Maslák (45.46), as well as Great Britain’s Martyn Rooney and Wariner.

Francis’s seasonal best is 44.77 seconds, achieved on May 14 while placing third in Guadeloupe. He also won at the Jamaica International assignment at the historic Racers Grand Prix on Saturday, June 11, in Kingston, and he will be in an intriguing race involving seven men who have personal bests under 45 seconds.

Francis will match strides with Machel Cedenio and Lalonde Gordon of Trinidad and Tobago; Bralon Taplin of Grenada; Americans Mike Berry and Vernon Norwood and fellow Jamaicans Rusheen McDonald and Pete Matthews.

Francis, with a personal best of 44.50, will renew a growing rivalry with Cedenio, who had the better of him on the final leg of the 4x400m relay at Beijing last year. Cedenio has a personal best of 44.36 seconds and a seasonal best of 44.68 seconds.

Francis will also have his hands full with the emerging Taplin of Grenada, who has a personal best of 44.41 achieved in April, making him the fifth fastest in the world this year and the quickest in this field.

Norwood will be there having clocked 45.00 this season, while Jamaica’s national record holder McDonald will try to get things right, following a pretty ordinary season so far.

All in all, the 400m at the Racers Grand Prix will prove very exciting and will be an eye opener as to where most of these athletes are in terms of their preparations.