Fantastic fourth!
BUDAPEST, Hungary — Newly minted men’s 400m hurdles record holder Roshawn Clarke graded his first senior World Athletics Championships 12 on a scale of one to 10, after he placed fourth in the final on Wednesday.
Clarke ran 48.07 seconds at National Athletics Centre in Budapest to finish behind repeat champion Karsten Warholm of Norway (46.89), second-placed Kyron McMaster of the British Virgin Island (47.34), and third-placed American Rai Benjamin (47.56).
As Clarke walked into the mixed zone after the final with his head held high and a broad smile on his face, he said he felt “super good, super, super good” about his efforts.
In the second round of the 400m hurdlers Clarke, only 19, had broken the Jamaican national record and the World Under-20 standard when he ran 47.34.
In Wednesday’s final he was well positioned after the fifth hurdle but appeared to shuffle to the sixth hurdle, losing contact with the top three competitors. Subsequently, despite a strong second half of the race, he could not close the gap on the winner.
The World Under-20 silver medallist from last year described the final race as “a very spicy event”.
He added: “I was in the midst of it and I can’t complain at all. It was a really good race.”
The error, he said, came at the sixth hurdle where he lost rhythm.
“My stride was not matching and I had to chop and shuffle — and I did not want that to happen as I felt [even strides] would set me up better in the home straight to challenge for a medal. But we have to move on, and I am happy.”
Earlier, Candice McLeod repeated her seventh-place finish from last year after she ran 51.08 in the women’s 400m final.
The Dominican Republic’s Marileidy Paulino ran a national record 48.76 to win the gold medal, beating Poland’s Natalia Kaczmarek (49.57). Kingston-based Barbadian Sada Williams repeated her bronze medal with 49.60.
Nayoka Clunis made a historic appearance at the event, the first Jamaican hammer thrower to compete at the World Championships, but had a best mark of 58.10m on her only legal throw and was eliminated.
