McMaster successfully defends title at Commonwealth Games

Defending Commonwealth Games champion Kyron McMaster has successfully retained his 400-metre hurdles gold medal at the recently concluded Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.

McMaster — who faced some amount of disappointment at the recent World Athletics Championship in Eugene, Oregon after hitting a hurdle in the heats and had to pull out of the semi-finals because of a hamstring injury — saw redemption when he powered home ahead of Jamaican Jaheel Hyde to successfully defend his title.

In the earlier heats, the Jamaican had gotten the better of McMaster, but the Virgin Islander got his redemption in the finals as he clocked a time of 48.93 ahead of Hyde who finished in a time of 49.78 seconds. Alastair Chalmers of Guernsey who finished third in a time of 49.97.

McMaster said his goal going into the finals was to execute a proper race and finish injury-free while enjoying himself.

“I felt pretty calm, cool and collected. You know during the warm-up I took a different approach. I felt good; felt confident and I did not want to be in my head too much. So, I just let it all out and enjoyed it, took in the ambience. Spoke with coach, and cracked a few jokes. You know, just let it go and just come out there and have an injury-free race and enjoy the competition,” the two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist said.

He will now turn his attention to the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC) Games in Freeport, Grand Bahama, the Bahamas from August 19 – 21.

McMaster will also be looking to defend his 400-metre hurdles crown at that track meet.