It has been 20 years since Jamaica last won a medal in the men’s 400m hurdles event at the Olympic Games, but Okeile Stewart, coach of rising Jamaican star Roshawn Clarke, is quietly confident that his young charge can break that drought in Paris this year.

Danny McFarlane is the last Jamaican to secure a medal for the country in the event at the Olympics, winning a silver at the 2004 Games in Athens. Winthrop Graham was the country’s first-ever medallist in the men’s 400m hurdles event, winning silver at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain.

Clarke, the national record holder in the event with a time of 47.34 seconds, narrowly missed out on a medal at last year’s World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, finishing fourth in the final.

Stewart told the Jamaica Observer that Clarke has gained a lot of experience in his debut season as a professional athlete and is well prepared to go even further at this month’s Olympic Games in Paris.

“He is looking in the shape that I would really want him to be in,” said Stewart.

“He finished fourth last year at the World Championships and, like any other coach or athlete, we would like to finish one better this year, so we have been putting in the work to see if we can turn that dream into a reality.”

Clarke will enter the Olympic Games as the second-fastest Jamaican this year with a season’s best time of 48.04s. National champion Malik James-King, who defeated Clarke to win the national title last month, is the fastest Jamaican in the world and the fifth fastest globally with his time of 47.42s. Rai Benjamin of the United States is currently the world leader with his time of 46.46s. Clarke’s is the 16th fastest globally this year. Stewart pointed out that Clarke, 20, has had his fair share of ups and downs with injuries this season, but he is now mentally ready to deliver an excellent performance at the showpiece in Paris.

“When you are pushing the throttle to get to the next level, you will always have little aches and pains here and there, but nothing to really worry about. I think we are well-oiled and greased at this time and getting better as the time counts down to the championships,” Stewart pointed out.

He explained that the former Camperdown athlete, who is the World U-20 record holder in the event, has been working assiduously in training to improve all aspects of his hurdling technique in preparation for the Olympic Games in Paris. Stewart also highlighted that Clarke is very relaxed and focused at the moment, heading into the championships.

“We always plan to treat each race just like the next. We try not to put any pressure on ourselves, so the mental part is always to take it a step at a time and to treat each hurdle as it comes. At the end of the day, whatever we put out in training, we will be able to replicate in competition,” Stewart maintains.

“The thing about it is that pressure comes in different ways and forms, and how one chooses to deal with it internally, you never know. But based on what I have seen in training and his rapport with his teammates and with me, it has not changed,” he mentioned.

“A little more seriousness, a little bit more focus, and strictness right now as it relates to the task at hand is the main focus.”

Clarke is scheduled to make his seasonal debut in Europe on Saturday, as he is set to compete in the men’s 400m hurdles at the London Diamond League event.

The men’s 400m hurdles competition at the Paris Olympic Games begins on Monday, August 5 at 3:05 am.