BIRMINGHAM, England — Olympic champion Hansle Parchment is pointing to poor hydration as the cause of his World Championships-ending cramps before the final of the 110m hurdles in Eugene two Sundays ago and admits that he is still uncertain whether he will be fit enough to compete at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.

“To be honest, we are not completely sure yet if we’re going to make the run. We are still watching it and still taking baby steps forward to make sure that the leg is good because I don’t want to put myself in a position where I cause more damage and then I am out for the rest of the season and then a very slow start to prepare for next season, which is also another important year. So all being well, we will do some hurdling and then decide from there if we’re going to move forward with these Games,” said Parchment during a session at the University of Birmingham’s training track on Saturday.

“I am feeling good, and for the most part there is no pain per se, but the leg is not completely ready. We’re taking it slow, I am not trying to overdo anything. We have a few more days so we’re going to watch it and see how it develops,” Parchment told the Jamaica Observer in his first interview since he was forced to withdraw from the final at Hayward Field.

The event was eventually won by American Grant Holloway in 13.03 seconds, with compatriot Trey Cunningham, 13.08, and Spain’s Asier Martinez, 13.17, taking silver and bronze respectively. Another medal favourite, Devon Allen (USA), also missed out after being disqualified for a false start.

“It was a very disappointing moment. I think the supporters and well-wishers were even more devastated than I was. To be honest, I quickly came to grips with the situation because I realised that, with a cramp like that, there was no way I was going to be able to run normally, and my first thought was it would make no sense to beat up on myself. That’s how I approached the situation and just tried to see how best I could move forward and make the leg better,” said Parchment.

“But trust me, I know what I could have done. I was fit, I was feeling good, I think I was executing very well, especially even the start where I have had problems over the years, so I was really looking forward to making it a very competitive race,” Parchment added. “I think we would have run a very fast time because everybody was running really well, but I guess God is not ready yet for us to deliver the fast times, so I have to just wait a little bit and make sure that I’m in good health and I’ll take it on again.”

Thinking back to the lead-up to the injury, Parchment blamed his hydration preparation, adding that there were no signs of any issues with his hamstring until he started to test his starting block.

“I’m not entirely sure what caused the cramps. I’ve been thinking that it might be a lapse in the hydration process. I felt I was hydrating properly, but I think it might have been too much water and not enough rehydration salts and so on, especially throughout the night, but I was feeling good all the way up until the testing of the blocks, that’s when I started to feel a little strange thing,” Parchment shared.

“Upon the second hurdle, when I did the blocks test, that’s when I got the cramp and from I got the cramp, everything was thrown off — hitting the hurdle and almost falling over and all of that. Yeah, but as I say, I feel like it might have been hydration issues because I was feeling good. Even during the warm-up after the semi-finals, everything was good, there was nothing, no indication that something was off. So now I try to make sure that I’m focusing a little bit more on the hydration part of things and fluid up as much as possible and not worry about too much sugar at night because that was one of my concerns with drinking Gatorade at night why I wasn’t doing that. We live and learn,” said Parchment.

The first round of the men’s 110m hurdles at the Commonwealth Games is scheduled to face the starter on Tuesday.