AFTER suffering a minor injury that kept her out of action for several weeks this season, Jamaica’s 400m hurdler Rushell Clayton says she is slowly getting back to her best as she targets a podium finish at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan, in September.

Clayton, 33, picked up the injury during the opening Grand Slam Track meet in Jamaica in April.

On Saturday she produced a strong performance to win the women’s 400m hurdles title in 53.81 seconds during the 2025 JAAA/Puma National Junior & Senior Championships at the National Stadium.

Andrenette Knight, who was highly favoured to win the event, was second with a time of 54.52 while third went to Shiann Salmon in 54.65.

“I honestly think that has been the best execution that I have done all season,” Clayton said after the race. “I got my strides where I wanted them, but they weren’t as fast as I would want them to be. The turnovers weren’t as fast but the strides were consistent — and I love that.

“Not even in practice I was getting it but to come out here and execute and get the strides that I wanted, means so much to me,” Clayton noted.

“When I got to the 200 metres [mark] I was like, ‘Wow girl, you are feeling it,’ because I felt myself rolling. And it felt great because I haven’t done any of that all season,” she added.

Clayton, a two-time World Championships bronze medallist, the most recent which came at the last championships in Budapest, Hungary, in 2023, is feeling confident of a podium finish in Tokyo.

“The World Championships is my lucky charm and I am always looking forward to medalling. I know it is going to take a lot and the season has been rough, but I think it is a blessing in disguise,” she said.

“I didn’t finish last year because I got hurt. But I told myself that I am not going to allow what happened in 2021 to happen to me again when I got hurt early in the season,and I was so frustrated and I didn’t allow myself to heal. I took the six weeks or so off to heal and I am just back in training working on what I need to work on for Tokyo,” Clayton explained.

Reflecting on her performance on Sunday, Clayton said she was not too bothered by the time but was instead focused on winning the final race.

“I think I am in great standing, honestly. The time didn’t matter to me much at all because I wanted to finish in the top three and I wanted to feel myself — and I think I felt myself rolling and I love that,” she said.

“Going into the Grand Slam Track, I started training late in November because I wasn’t feeling good, and to get hurt in that first meet, it was really heartbreaking. But, I told myself that I wouldn’t allow myself to drop in that dish like I did in 2021. I wanted to heal, so the doctor said to take some time off, and I am slowly back in training doing what I need to do.

“To have that [national champion] to your name is a very great feeling. You know we will look at the national record another time but to have ‘national champion’ to my name, it feels really good.”

CLAYTON… the time didn’t matter to me much at all because I wanted to finish in the top three and I wanted to feel myself (Photo: Observer file)