BIRMINGHAM, England — World Championships finalist Jaheel Hyde believes that challenges bring the best out of him, and is looking to demonstrate some of that fighting spirit when he lines up in the final of the 400m hurdles at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Hyde, the bronze medal winner from the last Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, is hoping to use the experience and motivation gained from his sixth-place finish final at the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, and push for an improvement on his previous podium finish at the Games.

“I’m pretty much looking forward to and I am excited. I want to upgrade my medal that I won at the last one. Each time we touch the track, we always want to win and do well and make the country proud so my goal here is to be on the podium but to get an upgraded medal,” said Hyde.

Hyde, who fell during the semi-final at the Tokyo 2020 Games, bounced back to make the final eight at the World Championships recently, and said the experience underlined the need for greater work on his part.

“What I learned from Eugene is that there is a lot of work to be done, but I’m really happy that I ran against those guys and know what it’s like to get down to those times, even though I didn’t run to 47 or 46 seconds, but I was right there with them. So I know what I have to do and I’m willing to do the work,” Hyde said.

Hyde believes that he is at his best when he is faced with difficulties and is hoping that the competition in Birmingham will push him towards something special.

“I think it’s really when your back is against the wall and you really don’t have anything to do but to run fast, because you know you want to be on a team you want to make your family proud. So I guess it just leads back to that and I’m just a true competitor, I think, in my own eyes. You know, when lights are on I know how to put it together. It’s just unfortunate last year the Olympics, you know, I had that mishap but I’m past that so it’s just positive thinking going forward,” said Hyde.

The men’s 400m hurdles will take place today at 8:45 pm (2:45 pm Jamaica time).

— Andre Lowe