BYDGOSZCZ, Poland — Defending champion and favourite Jaheel Hyde delivered on his promise as he became the first man in history to retain his title in the 400m hurdles event when he cruised to the gold medal in 49.03 seconds on yesterday’s penultimate session of the IAAF World Under-20 Championships at Zawiszaw Stadium in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

The 19-year-old Hyde, who now turns his attention to the Olympic Games in Rio, declared “mission accomplished” minutes after he completed three days of dominance where he was never challenged at any stage of his three races.

American Taylor McLaughlin was second in a personal best 49.45 seconds, while Kyron McMaster of the British Virgin Islands was third in a national Under-20 record 49.56 seconds.

The men’s 4x100m team was edged by Germany for the bronze in a race so tight it took a photo finish to decide as both teams clocked 39.13 seconds.

Hyde’s gold took Jamaica’s medal tally to five. They have won two gold, one silver and two bronze and are in sixth place with one day to go as the USA continues to lead the tables with 17 medals in total – nine gold, six silver and two bronze.

Cuba are next with three gold and two silver followed by Ethiopia with three gold, a silver and three bronze. Kenya have three gold, a silver and two bronze, while Germany have two gold, a silver and three bronze.

Jamaica’s head coach Danny Hawthorne told Sunday Observer the team is on target.

“We were expecting Jaheel’s gold medal but until it was delivered we could not count it.”

Hawthorne said despite not winning a medal, the boys’ sprint relay team that added 200m bronze medallist Nigel Ellis and 110m hurdles finalist De’jour Russell to Raheem Chambers and Jhevaughn Matherson did well, “We went into the final fourth ranked and we managed to finish third with the same time as Germany, that was a very good come-back by the boys, it showed tenacity and guts.”

The USA won with an Under-20 World Leading 38.93 seconds followed by Japan (39.01 seconds) while it was a national Under-20 record for Germany.

But Hyde was the man of the moment.

“As I said before the time did not matter, I just wanted to come out here and defend my title as comfortable as possible and I did that, I will now enjoy my weekend, get some rest and come back next week to start to get ready for the Olympics,” he told reporters.

Hyde got off to a fast start from lane four and had covered the field by the sixth hurdle.

“That’s normally my race plan, I went out hard but I think I could have run harder, but I can’t kill myself there is room for improvement I and will work towards that.”

It’s close to my personal best and I haven’t lost any fitness with all the travelling, so that’s a plus and I have a lot of time before I race again, so I can work on a new personal record.”

“It’s always good for me to create history for myself and my country and I will try to do that all the time.”

Harley, who watched the race from the stands, was pleased with what he saw.

“We came here to get a job done and did it,” he told the Observer.

“The time he ran is good given the conditions and he had complained about feeling a burning in his chest; he felt better when the sun was out in the mornings but it was the cooler evenings that was not so good for him,” Harley said.

The coach, who will not be in Rio, added: “Three good days of racing and today tells you he is still in great shape. This sets him up nicely for Rio and does a lot of good for his preparation. This victory will help him to build confidence against the big boys in Rio.”