BYDGOSZCZ, Poland — If he feels pressured by the weight of his quest for history at the IAAF World U-20 Championships here in Bydgoszcz, Poland, Jaheel Hydel is not showing it.

Hyde, who is an overwhelming favourite here to win the men’s 400m hurdles on Friday and become the first man to retain the title, will start his journey today when he runs in the first round, set to start at 10.56 am (3:56 am Jamaican time).

A relaxed-looking Hyde told the Jamaica Observer on Monday his main goal at the start of the season was to “come here and defend my title”, while adding that qualifying for the Jamaican team to the Olympic Games in Rio next month, was “a bonus”.

Hyde has dominated the event this season and his newest national junior record 48.81 seconds leads the Under-20 rankings, where he has the top three times.

Times, however, are not his focus, as crossing the line first and taking back-to-back gold medals in the 400m hurdles is the focus.

“I am not putting any time on it,” he said. “I just want to get across the line first and I will be pleased and it if means running 52 seconds anything, it does not matter, once I win.”

The season has not been smooth for The University of the West Indies student, however, as he struggled at some points before he and coach Christopher Harley decided to “go back to basics” with their training methods, and his 48.81 seconds while placing second in the National Senior Championships was the reward.

He opened his season with 49.16 seconds at the Jamaica International Invitational meet in early May, but said things just went downhill from there.

“I have no idea what happened, but it seems like it happened for the best,” he said. “I got to regroup and we started doing double hours in training.”

Distractions, he said, were cut out. “I became more focussed [and] let go certain things to become great and to improve as the season progressed,” he said, while elaborating that he went out less and “had to let go things that normal teenagers do”.

The results did not come immediately, as there were still substandard performances at the Racers Grand Prix and the National Junior Championships, but two weeks later at the National Senior Trials, it all fell into place nicely, he said.

“We went back to basics,” he said, “baby hurdles and drills.”

Harley, who is with Hyde in Poland, told the Observer they went back to what they used to do when Hyde ran both the 110m and 400m hurdles at Wolmer’s Boys’ School.

“Basically, we took him back to some of those days and the things that gave him the edge then,” Harley explained. “Sprint hurdle drills, which I found helped him to maintain some aspects of his hurdling technique, you can’t forget the roots.”

Harley does not agree with Hyde regarding the times he expects to run here, though. “I wouldn’t say time is not important; it depends on the quality of the race. He is in great condition, we have been in Europe a week now, so he is acclimatised and will put on a good show.”

Hyde left Jamaica on July 7 and trained at Brunell University in east London, the same base used by Racers Track Club, before heading to Poland.

— Paul Reid