Jamaica’s Roshawn Clarke completes in a semi-final heat of the men’s 400m hurdles on day three of the World Athletics Championships on Monday, August 21, 2023. Clarke finished second in a world U20 record of 47.34 – a time that would have been good enough for gold at many past editions of the championships. (PHOTO: Marlon Reid, File).
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Roshawn Clarke’s world U20 400m hurdles record of 47.34 seconds, set earlier this year, has now been ratified by World Athletics.
The Jamaican enjoyed a phenomenal breakthrough season in 2023, culminating with a world U20 record and a fourth-place finish at the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23.
At the start of the year, his personal best stood at 49.35, which he set en route to taking bronze at the 2022 World U20 Championships. He broke his personal best in mid-May, then made two further revisions at the senior Jamaican Championships in July, clocking 48.91 in the heats and 47.85 in the final on July 7, the latter equalling the world U20 record set by USA’s Sean Burrell on June 11, 2021.
His progress continued at the World Championships. After advancing through his heat, he went on to finish second in his semifinal in a world U20 record of 47.34 – a time that would have been good enough for gold at many past editions of the championships.
In the final one day later, Clarke finished fourth in 48.07 and beat some of the best 400m hurdlers in the world.
