If he has his way, Jaydon Hibbert could become the second man to win gold medals at the World Athletics Under-20 Championships and the Olympic Games after former Cuban Pablo Pedro Pitchardo achieved the feat nine years apart, in 2012 and 2021, respectively.

The mercurial Jamaican, who could become the first man to win three medals in the event at the World Under-20, will be hoping to go one step further than Pitchardo and do what no other man has ever done. He could have the chance to win gold at both events in the same year after he announced during a virtual press conference on Sunday that he was planning to represent Jamaica at both events this year.

The track and field schedule at this year’s Olympics is to run from August 1-11, while the World Under-20 Championships in Lima, Peru, is set for August 27-31.

Hibbert has the full backing of his coach, Travis Geopfert.

“I think it’s achievable,” Geopfert told the Jamaica Observer during the press conference.

“You know, when you train well, in terms of quote unquote holding a peak, you know that’s something that can be done. And again, we have time right now, to lay a good foundation for the late end of the season.”

However, he underlined that the Olympic Games in Paris, France, remains the priority.

“The way you approach that meet as well, I don’t want to undermine the importance of that meet. It’s a big meet. There’s no doubt but it’s not the Olympic Games,” he stressed.

“So the focus is on the big meet at the end of the season and then afterwards it works out great because it’s afterwards because it just bonus, you know, it’s just fun. You know, the young man can go enjoy it and enjoy that process while he’s still at that age and all of this, so I think it’s absolutely, absolutely fine.”

Pitchardo won the Under-20 gold in Barcelona, Spain, in 2012 while representing Cuba and then won the Olympic gold in Tokyo, Japan, in 2021 while wearing the colours of Portugal.

Another Cuban, Yoelbi Quesada, won two World Under-20 medals: silver in Bulgaria in 1990 and gold in Seoul in 1992 before taking Olympic bronze in Atlanta in 1996. Marian Oprea of Romania won Under-20 gold in 2000 in Chile and Olympic silver in 2004.

Geopfert reiterated that Hibbert competing at both events this year is not far-fetched.

“We talked about priorities first, you know, and communication goes both ways, what Hibby is feeling, what I am feeling and collaboration on that. But with all that being said, you know, we’re going to focus on the outdoor season. Training is going really well. Things are going smooth for him.”

The coach said Hibbert should be better able to withstand the rigours of training and competition this year.

“We have time now to really lay [an] even better foundation than what we have in the past, so we’re going to focus on outdoors, the specifics of the meets, you know, and the openers in the outdoor season. We don’t have the exact schedule laid out yet but we know windows and time frames and then you know, build the training around that.

“You build everything backwards from the major championship and obviously, that’s the Olympic Games. So what my mindset is, moving backwards off of that and then finding opportunities that fill into that training schedule more than anything else,” Geopfert explained.

Hibbert, who last week announced that he had signed a professional contract, foregoing the next three years as a student/athlete, just days after his 19th birthday, said he and Geopfert had prioritised four events this season, the Olympic Games, the national championships, the Diamond League series and the World Under-20 Championships.

Hibbert, who won a silver medal in the 2021 staging in Nairobi, Kenya, won the gold a year later in Cali, Colombia, with a Championships Record 17.27m, is among a handful of men who have won two medals in the event. He could be the second to retain the title after Cuba’s Lozaro Martinez won in 2014 in Eugene, Oregon, and repeated in Poland in 2016.

Romania’s Ionut Punga won two World Under-20 medals: bronze in Sydney, Australia, in 1996, and gold two years later in France in 1998.