PARIS, France — Having failed to reach the final of the men’s 400m Hurdles competition at his last two Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games champion Jaheel Hyde is determined to change that. Hyde secured his spot to the semi-finals on Monday, clocking 49.09 seconds. The race was won by American medal contender Rai Benjamin with a time of 48.82 seconds, while Kyron McMaster of the British Virgin Islands finished third in 49.24 seconds.

The 27-year-old Hyde, who has had an up-and-down season, said that his failure to advance to the finals at the last two Olympic Games has been weighing heavily on his mind — and his goal is to change that in Paris.

“Every year is different,” he said. “Each round, you just have to take it one round at a time. For me, I don’t have the luxury to take it easy like everybody else so, come the semi-finals, it is going to be my final and then I will do my best to progress from there.

“It [the challenge] is more mental, and this [overcoming mental challenge] is pretty much it for the semi-finals because I know how to run and hurdle. It is just about being strong in the mind and running 10 times harder than I did today [Monday].”

Hyde, who has a season’s best time of 48.35 seconds, said he is pleased with his execution in the heats.

“I was pretty pleased with my first part of the race,” he said. “It was fast, but not too outrageous. I knew that I had a world-beater in front of me so I kind of kept as close as possible to him and then fed off him.”

Jamaica’s other competitor in the event, Roshawn Clarke, who finished fourth in the final at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, in 2023, also advanced to the semi-finals by winning his heat in 48.17 seconds. He won ahead of Nigeria’s Ezekiel Nathaniel (48.38 seconds) and Wilfried Happio of France (48.42 seconds). Clarke, the national record holder in the event, said he is pleased with his performance.

“I am looking forward to coming back out here, executing just as I did now, and getting to the final as easily as possible with no pressure,” he said. “There was a little bit of rust, nothing serious, and that will be cleaned up by the time the semi-finals come around. My execution is key; and even if I stumble, my execution will be good enough to get me through.”

National champion Malik James-King, who has been having an outstanding season this year, turned in an impressive performance to secure his place in the semi-finals. James-King, the fastest Jamaican in the event this year, won his heat in 48.21 seconds, running from lane two. He said that he was pleased with his efforts and now awaits the semi-finals on Wednesday.

“It is my first Olympics so I was a bit nervous,” he said. “I was just enjoying the moment and not realising that I was in lane two, with everyone in front of me. I normally go out a little slow, so I knew that this time around I had to make sure that I got out in the race before it got ahead of me. I just listened to my coach and executed to get into the semi-finals.”