NOTED hurdles coach Lonnie Greene says he’s already impressed by Olympic 110m hurdles bronze medallist Rasheed Broadbell and believes he can become the best in the world within a few years.

Two-time national champion Broadbell, who left the University of Technology-based MVP Track Club following the passing of Stephen Francis, has been training in Kentucky, United States, with Greene’s camp, which consists of fellow Jamaican Megan Simmonds, American Olympic champion and world record holder Masai Russell and three-time indoor champion Devynne Charlton of the Bahamas.

The stint marks Broadbell’s first overseas training experience after spending his entire professional career in Jamaica under Francis at MVP and Reynaldo Walcott at Elite Performance Track Club.

The 26-year-old is Greene’s first-ever male professional athlete, having had success with the female trio of Simmonds, Russell and Charlton. Although the move is new territory for him, Greene says he was motivated to work with Broadbell as he seeks to honour Francis’s legacy.

“I’m very particular about who I take on and when the question was posed to me, I said, ‘Let me pray about that and get back to you, though.’ When I did and felt in my spirit that that was the way to go, [and] I called my guy and I said, ‘Let’s do it,’” he said on Leighton Levy’s Mr Analyst. “I would like to do this to honour Franno and knowing the work that he did and knowing who he was as a person.

I’ve had a couple of intimate moments with him and for the things he’s accomplished, me as a coach, I would like to emulate that.

“I would like to one day when I’m done with this profession [and] I compare my resume to what Stephen Francis has done, it looks similar because I think people take that for granted, in my mind, the magnitude of the work he’s done.

So if I could take Rasheed, and I believe God set this up, I’m going to give him everything I got.” After a successful 2024 season for Broadbell where he won bronze at the Paris Olympics and was ranked as the third-best hurdler in the world, the Jamaican star missed out on the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo after undergoing Achilles surgery, which kept him out of action for over a year.

He returned to the track in July after more than 12 months out, clocking 13.25 seconds for sixth at the Hungarian Grand Prix for sixth before registering 13.39 seconds two days later for third in Luzern, Switzerland. Greene says he’s been and plans to remain patient with Broadbell given his recent comeback.

“When we started two weeks ago, after day one, he said, ‘Coach I ain’t doing this type of work in a long time’ and I smiled and said, ‘You’re going to be fine.

We’re going to eat this elephant one bite at a time, don’t rush it. We’re going to get there,’” said Greene.

“He said, ‘When do I start hurdling?’ I said, about four or five weeks but for now, we’re going to get in shape. We’re going to get fit.

We’re going to get strong [because] that’s what wards off injuries.” Broadbell, who won Commonwealth Gold in 2022, broke the 13-second barrier in 2023, clocking a personal-best 12.94 seconds to join an elite group of 110m hurdlers.

However, the event has become increasingly competitive, with 10 men now having run under 13 seconds and four dipping below 12.90 seconds.

Among them is American Ja’Kobe Tharp, who shattered the world record in June with a time of 12.75 seconds. Greene, though, says he’s confident Broadbell will be among the best in short order. “I believe he’s got the ability to go 12.7,” he said.

“He’s faster than people give him credit for, the boy’s quick. The beautiful thing about Achilles surgery, usually from what our doctors tell us here, when you have a corrected Achilles, usually for some reason, it’s stronger than before it was ruptured or injured.

So I’m pretty confident if we do it the right way with the protocols that we have in place with him going to get the treatments, the therapies, the rehabilitation, I think he’s going to be fine.” With major championships set for the next three years including the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, Greene expects Broadbell to be ready but says he won’t rush the process.

“In 2027, he’s (going to be) a major player or even a medallist or even the winner. In 2028, of course, the winner. Every other coach in this game, like Myles Holloway coaching Grant Holloway, that’s their goal.

But for me is to get him to be consistent, to get him to be able to get through the season without there being any type of physical challenges. I think if we can do that, his mindset itself will change,” he said.

Bahamian Greene also heads the athletics programme at the University of Kentucky and has over 30 years of coaching experience at America’s collegiate level.