Bralon Taplin is hoping to become the second Grenadian to win the men’s 400m at the Racers Adidas Grand Prix on Saturday following in the footsteps of his more illustrious countryman Kirani James.

Taplin, who was third last year in 45.11 seconds behind James’ winning time of 44.35 seconds, will once again have to contend with Americans Fred Kerley, who was second last time with 44.36 seconds, and Nathan Strother, plus the improving Machel Cedenio of Trinidad and Tobago, in addition to the Jamaican trio of Nathan Allen, Rusheen McDonald and Demish Gaye.

“My opening race in Grenada was very good, like two months ago, but since then my last two races have been disappointing to me. I thought I was in pretty good form then flew over to China and I didn’t perform well there and then Stockholm wasn’t my best performance either. So I came to Jamaica to figure it out,” said Taplin.

The US-born Grenadian opened his season with an impressive win at the Grenadian Invitational, clocking 44.92 seconds, then his form dipped at the Shanghai Diamond League where he finished fifth in 45.93 seconds. It got even more worrying at the Stockholm Diamond League where he finished seventh with 46.87 seconds.

But he remains full of confidence that his form will return in time for IAAF Doha World Championships set for September.

“After the Grenada Invitational I started to do more speed work but before Grenada I used to do like longer runs like 450 and things like that. But from the speed work it hasn’t converted to my 400m, so I got back to the longer distances over the last two weeks. So, I am looking for a great performance here,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

“This year is gonna be about consistency. Michael Norman has run 44 already, so he has set the standard. But one thing for Championships is that you have to show up on that day. Who to say if he can still be in that 44 shape. That’s tough to hold all year round. The person that shows up on the day is gonna win the World Championships,” he noted.

Taplin, who was born in the US of a Grenadian father and American mother, was seventh at the 2016 Rio Olympics in a personal best of 44.38 seconds. That race was won by South African Wade van Niekerk in a world record 43.03 seconds.

—Howard Walker