James Carter of USA, Felix Sanchez of the Dominican Republic and Kerron Clement of USA in action during the 400m Hurdles Final (© Bongarts/Getty Images)
The three years since Kerron Clement became World Junior 400m Hurdles champion must surely have felt like pretty a steep learning curve for the American talent who last night took the senior World title here in Osaka. It’s not been his fault, his prodigious talent made it all too easy for us to expect too much, too soon from this 21-year-old runner.
In 2005, Clement had begun the year with a stunning performance in the flat 400m beating none other than Michael Johnson's (44.63 in 1996) World Indoor record with a stunning 44.57 seconds run. It seemed that in one winter Clement had transferred seamlessly from junior to senior ranks. Hopes were raised further when in the summer he set a world leading time of 47.24 for the 400m Hurdles at the US Championships, a result which on paper made him a strong favourite for the World title of that year in Helsinki. But in rainy and cold weather in the Finnish capital Clement, running in lane one, finished a frustrating fourth place.
Despite a 47.39 world seasonal best in 2006, Clement continued to experience many ups and downs in his transition from junior athletics to his senior career. And as he ran so well at home but then showed variable form abroad, he began to be tied by some with the ‘like some fine wines he doesn’t travel well’ tag.
Last night Clement proved that all he needed was more time to mature.
“After Helsinki I learnt from experience to finish very hard. This is what I did today. I am thankful to become World champion against such great athletes”, said a delighted Clement after the race.
On the fast track of the Nagai Stadium Clement set the world seasonal best running 47.61 beating reigning Olympic champion Felix Sanchez, the former two-time World Champs winner who celebrated a great comeback from years of injury with a fantastic silver medal.
“After the gunshot, I just got out the blocks and ran without thinking about the hurdles. I had to catch the guys in front of me and did not think about saving energy. On the last two hurdles I had problems with my rhythm. These three days I stayed focused, I worked hard and did not worry about who was going to be in the race”, said Clement about his World title race.
The portents had already been good in 2007. Even before arriving in Japan, Clement, a student of Business at the University of Florida, had shown a level of consistent form which contrasted starkly with his previous seasonal efforts on the international circuit. He qualified for Osaka finishing second at the US Championships in Indianapolis in 47.80 behind James Carter. On the European circuit he collected runner-up places in Lausanne, Rome and Monaco ,and set a PB in the 400 metres of 44.48 behind Jeremy Wariner’s 43.50 in Stockholm.
Clement had first emerged as a name for the future when in 2004 he won the World Junior title in Grosseto, an event which also revealed the potential of his Osaka team mate LaShawn Merritt who is one of the favourites to pick up a medal in the 400 metres in Osaka. Clement’s junior star shone bright in Tuscany, winning as he did in 48.51 which established the second best junior performance in history, and he then anchored home the 4x400 relay to gold with a World Junior record of 3:01.09.
Clement hails from Trinidad and Tobago but moved to the USA with his parents when he was 13. “I never competed for Trinidad. It was an easy decision to compete for the USA at the World Junior Championships in 2004”, explained Clement about his origin.
Diego Sampaolo and Chris Turner for the IAAF
