Parchment pleased with near PB

Hansle Parchment is in splendid form. Olympic 110-metre hurdles champion in 2021, Parchment rushed forward to win his event in Xiamen, China, on Saturday in 12.96 seconds. Speaking afterwards, he said he would have liked to have run that well in Budapest.

The performance is just 0.02 off Parchment’s personal best (PB) of 12.94 seconds from 2014.

“Great race, excellent conditions,” said the tall Jamaican of a contest that saw him defeat Budapest winner Grant Holloway, with the World Championship bronze medallist Daniel Roberts edging into second.

“I would have wanted to have run that well in Budapest, but I suppose it wasn’t time yet,” the Fitz Coleman-trained hurdler reflected. In an outline of his objective for the Xiamen run, he explained, “It was about maintaining the focus on executing good technique and holding my composure through to the line. I suppose the only thing it does is to put the spotlight on me; unfortunately, I can’t bring anything from the last race. Every race is brand new.”

In Budapest, Holloway won his third World title in a row, matching the accomplishment of the late Greg Foster who won in 1983, 1987 and 1991.

Though he is pleased with his Budapest silver and his fast time in Xiamen, the 33-year-old Parchment isn’t getting too far ahead of himself.

“I wouldn’t say it’s given me any extra confidence. I try to have it in mind I can do it before I do, and hold that thought while I reach for each goal,” he said, in what might have been a thinly veiled reference to next year’s Olympics in Paris, France.

He set his personal best there seven years ago. A year later, he won Jamaica’s first World Championships medal in the 110-metre hurdles with a runner-up finish to Russian Sergey Shubenkov in Beijing, China.

Fans and well-wishers point to his start as an area for improvement. When he bested Holloway to win the Olympic gold, his reaction time was 0.130 seconds. In Budapest, he reacted to the starter’s pistol in 0.169, with Holloway at 0.135.

By comparison, Parchment’s reaction time in Xiamen was 0.163. As a result, he was left behind there by the American pair of Holloway and Roberts, but zoomed past both to win.

Omar McLeod, holder of the Jamaican record at 12.90 seconds, Parchment and 2022 Commonwealth Games champion Rasheed Broadbell are the only Jamaicans to run the 110m hurdles faster than 13 seconds. In fact, Parchment and Broadbell have the same time as a personal best - 12.94.