While the future is hardly ever certain, there is absolutely no doubt that 400m hurdler Roshawn Clarke has a promising one based on his amazing performance at the IAAF World Athletics Championship in Budapest, Hungary, last year.

Clarke had a spectacular breakout season in 2023, ending in a World Under-20 record and fourth place in the 400m hurdles final in Budapest. After going through the heats, Clarke finished second in his semi-finals race, clocking 47.34 to set the Under-20 record on August 21, 2023.

He was fourth in the final in 48.07 behind winner and Norway’s world record holder Karsten Warholm.

Clarke’s achievement was amazing given that he had just recently moved from junior to senior competition, demonstrating not only his grit but also his enormous potential.

After digesting the excitement of competing against some of the world’s top athletes, the 19-year-old is eager to go further, and not surprisingly, his next goal is to finish on the podium at the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris.

“The feeling of finishing fourth at a World Championship at just 19 years old is always crazy. I am not disappointed, but you won’t be happy in a final without a medal,” Clarke told the
Jamaica Observer.

“It is not disappointing that I don’t get a medal; it is my first World Championship, my first World Championship finals, and nobody doesn’t normally be 19 and go that far, so I am not really stressing it. I will just take it and move on as it comes.

“My goal going forward is to win the National Trials, get to the Olympics, give my best shot, and hopefully challenge for a medal. The mindset going forward now is to get on the podium in Paris,” Clarke, who is a member of the Swept Track Club, stated.

He expressed awareness that significant progress is required to make the step up, as his performance in the final in Budapest was only good enough for fourth place against the best on offer. In reality, he would gladly admit that success is not accidental, it comes with hard work and discipline.

“Strength-wise, I think I need to improve on that going forward. At the World Championship I learned how to be consistent at running fast. I mean, you have to be running fast at times, back-to-back, through the heats and semi-finals to get to the finals to challenge for a medal.

“So you have to be strong. My takeaway from that championship is that I have to be consistent at running fast. Physically, I’m stronger than last season, for sure, so that’s one for the books. Mentally, I’m prepared to face the challenges because I’ve been there and I know what it takes to become successful,” said Clarke, who was a bronze medallist in the 400m hurdles at the 2022 World Athletics U-20 Championships in 2022.

Clarke, a Camperdown High School alumnus, demonstrated his potential when he ran 48.91 seconds in the heats of the 400m hurdle at Jamaica’s National Championships in July last year, breaking his personal best of 49.35 seconds.

He won the final in 47.85 seconds, tying with Sean Burrell of the United States for the world junior record which was set in 2021. With that triumph, Clarke became only the second Jamaican to go under 48 seconds for the event, and the time placed him fourth-fastest in the world.

“This is an event that my coach [Okeile Stewart] thinks that I would be a perfect athlete for because of my height, and so he decided that I would do hurdles, and from there on it’s now hurdles,” Clarke said.

“Over the years, my coach, my mother [Ethelita Williams], and my father [Michael Clarke] have been the driving force behind my career. I have athletes who I look up to, such as Jaheel Hyde and Hansle Parchment, and support comes from my agent, management team, and everybody. But otherwise, I am strong and I believe in myself, and that is the extra push for me,” Clarke ended.