A decade after setting a national 400m record at 43.93 seconds, Jamaican quarter-miler Rusheen McDonald says he is back at his ideal racing weight and is ready to do it all over again.

The newly crowned national 400m champion is brimming with quiet confidence after returning to what he says is peak physical condition and, according to the 32-year-old, he has now rediscovered the formula that once made him the country’s fastest-ever one-lap sprinter.

“Training has been going good so far because I lost a lot of weight, so I am just ready to run at the moment,” McDonald said. “When I ran the 43 seconds, I was weighing 170 pounds and I gained some weight over the years. But now I am weighing 170 again, so I can finish faster, like I did in 2015.

That year remains a golden one in McDonald’s career, when he clocked the record in the heats of the 400m at the World Athletics Championships in Beijing, China.

Now, McDonald says with his renewed focus on fitness and performance, he is aiming to repeat that level or even surpass it.

“I know that now I can get a 43 this year or a 44.0,” he said.

McDonald’s return to the top of Jamaican 400m running came after a commanding performance at the National Championships, where he held off a strong field to win his first senior national title in 44.89 seconds. Delano Kennedy was second in 44.91, while third went to Jevaughn Powell in 45.08. However, McDonald’s time was outside of the qualifying standard of 44.85 for this year’s Worlds.

He said that while satisfied with the result, he was not entirely happy with the time he clocked.

“I am happy for the win, but I wasn’t pleased with the time because I could have gone through the line a lot faster,” he said. “But I appreciate the win as this is my first title in Jamaica, so when I go to Europe, it is going to get better.”

Though his attention is now turning to races in Europe and a potential appearance at the Worlds, McDonald is staying grounded and focusing on steady progress.

“I don’t have anything on my mind as yet, going into the World Championships, but I have a few races coming up overseas so we will just see what happens from thereon,” he said. “This title will certainly give me some confidence because I am in good shape right now, so I am just working on some stuff at the moment.”

Jamaica’s Rusheen McDonald (right) makes a safe handover of the baton to teammate Jevaughn Powell as they compete in the preliminaries of the men’s 4x400m relay at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary on Saturday, August 26, 2023.