Jehue Gordon, 17, of Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) shocked the world by making it to the final of the men’s 400m hurdles and then just missing out on the bronze medal yesterday. Gordon, who will turn 18 on December 15, ran a lifetime best and national record of 48.26, the fastest by any hurdler his age. His time of 48.66 in the heats on Saturday smashed T&T’s 22-yr-old national record of 49.23 set by Randy Cox in May 1987.
Gordon was beaten by the 2007 World Championships 400m hurdles gold medalist, Trinidadian-born Kerron Clement of the US, who won the event in a world leading 47.91. Taking the silver was Puerto Rico's Javier Culson while Bershawn Jackson of the US took the bronze.
Gordon, the reigning CARIFTA 400m hurdles champion won the event at CARIFTA in April 2009 in St. Lucia in a new record 50.01 secs and followed that with a victory in June at the Trinidad National Trials, where he won his signature event in 50.45 secs. His first sub-50 for the event came on the biggest stage so far: this 12th IAAF World Championship in Athletics.