Reigning Olympic Games 110m hurdles champion Hansle Parchment said that he is not overly concerned about his notoriously slow start in races, but rather he is concentrating on enhancing his technique over the obstacle event.

Parchment, 33, is coming off an excellent season, highlighted by him securing a silver medal at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, in August. He finished the season as the fastest man in the world with a time of 12.93 seconds, which placed him ahead of his national teammate Rasheed Broadbell, who clocked 12.94.

Confident in his ability to perform at his best on the biggest stages, the towering Parchment says he is not focusing too much on the shortcomings of the first phase of his race. Still, he is anticipating improvement in that area.

“I am not worrying about my start because I have been working on it over the years and there have been some slight improvements here and there, and so I just focus on perfecting the technique,” said Parchment. “I have a feeling that this year I will get a better start, so I am putting it out there and I am speaking it into being.”

Parchment, who holds a personal best time of 12.93 seconds in the event, has yet to kick off his season. According to him, he is in no rush to do so because it’s going to be a very long campaign and therefore, he is taking his time to ensure he will be in excellent shape whenever the right time comes for him to take the track.

“I am currently preparing for the season because it is going to be a long one. I want to make sure I get everything right. I don’t want to rush anything. I should be opening sometime next month if all goes well, so you can look forward to that,” he added.

“The aim is to be ready for the trials, and that is the most important thing right now. So, that is where the focus is, and we are preparing for that as the main event, followed by the Olympics,” Parchment stated.

Parchment, a native of St Thomas, has been plagued by injuries over the past couple of seasons, but he highlighted that he has overcome his worries and is now fit and well physically.

“Fitness-wise, everything is good at the moment, thank God, and I really want to keep it that way, which is why I am just focusing on being patient and taking it in stride to get prepared. It is a hurdles race, and it is a very technical race, so we need to get everything right,” he said.

Meanwhile, at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which were held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Parchment surprised some by defeating the American Grant Holloway to win the gold medal in 13.04 seconds.

He has built for himself, a reputation of saving his best for when it really matters, with silver medals at the 2015 (Beijing) and 2023 (Budapest) World Athletics Championships as well as a bronze medal from the 2012 London Olympics to his credit, several of those coming during seasons when he wasn not seen as a favourite for a podium finish.