‘He’ll return soon’
Fitz Coleman, the coach of reigning Olympic Games 110m hurdles champion Hansle Parchment, says his charge has been training assiduously to iron out a number of technical flaws in a bid to become a dominant force in the event.
Parchment, coming off an injury-plagued season, was forced to miss the final of 110m hurdles event at the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, last summer after he suffered a freak accident at the start line in the final.
Coleman told the Jamaica Observer that the 32-year-old Parchment, who is yet to compete this season, is fully fit and healthy. He said he is impressed with what he has seen from Parchment in training.
“I am not going to stick my neck out and I can’t say how soon [he will run], but as you know this is an event that is highly technical. And we are trying to tweak and do some things a little differently so we can eke out some better performances,” Coleman said without detailing the specific adjustments.
“But he is going to compete and he will be competing as soon as I think he is ready, but for sure, he will be competing locally at some stage,” he said.
“At this point you look at general conditioning and the technical aspect of things and how an athlete is responding and where those things are concerned, I thank God they are going reasonably well. He is fine and injury free,” Coleman noted.
Parchment, who has a personal best time of 12.94 seconds in the event, was the second fastest Jamaican in the world last year with a time of 13.08. His compatriot, the Commonwealth Games champion Rasheed Broadbell, was better with 12.99.
“You know that [injury] has dogged him for years and we don’t talk much about those things that have set him back. In fact, we use them as motivation and it forces us to be very vigilant, to be very creative and trying to be as meticulous as we can be to ensure that we can [get] the kind of end result that we want,” Coleman said about Parchment, a native of St Thomas.
The coach said the sprint hurdler has put the disappointment of the World Championships behind him.
“Obviously, without a doubt, it was not a good moment, but he took it in good stead and in good stride. He is also a student of psychology and we spoke and we tried to come to grips with it. It was indeed a big shock, but it happened and we were just forced to accept what happened and move on,” Coleman said.
— Robert Bailey