Twenty-one-year old Jehue Gordon came to the World Championships here in Moscow wanting to have fun. Last night, he not only had fun, but cruised to victory in his 400 metres hurdles semifinal and put himself into tomorrow’s final with a spendid run in 48.10. It was the second best qualifying time and the small contingent of T&T supporters here are anxiously awaiting tomorrow’s big final which will be contested at 1 pm (T&T time).
Running in lane six, Gordon got off to a smooth start and took the lead at the top of the straight, before pulling away from Puerto Rican Javier Culson, who was second. “The race was a perfectly executed one for me. Coming over the last hurdle, I was able to gauge and realise that nobody was close, so I just eased through to the line comfortably to reserve as much in the tank for the finals,” added the former Queen’s Royal College student. Gordon said he was not affected by the fall of Bershawn Jackson of the United States at the second hurdle. “I had my eyes on my lane, hurdle for hurdle, and I executed one of the best races in my life,” he noted. Gordon is the first athlete from T&T to reach this year’s finals. He does not believe that there is added pressure on him because of this. “I don’t think so. My coach and I know what we have been working on and I know my teammates are fully supporting me.
He said he was pleased with his time and described it as decent. “I am really satisfied with the time. The day’s rest is a good thing for the 400 hurdles, because we put out so much. I do not think that I exerted myself. I went through the first 300 aggressively but between the hurdles I was able to relax over the last 100 metres,” he said. Questioned about the prospect of winning a gold medal, Gordon said he was not thinking about medals. “I want to have fun. I have been coming to these championships and I have always wanted the gold so badly. It has kept running away from me, so I studying to go in the opposite direction , they say negatives attract, let’s see how it works.” Gordon will race from lane six in tomorrow’s final, with Omar Cisneros of Cuba, who had the fastest time in the semi final of 47.93 in lane five. Olympic Champion Felix Sanchez is in lane four and American Michael Tinsley in lane three while Culson will be in lane two.