High school coach says failure wasn’t an option for Parchment

"Hansle was not one of the talented ones to begin with ..." shared Rohan Bryan as he referred to the Olympic Gold medallist Hansle Parchment.

Bryan, who Parchment credits as a foundation member of his track career, was his coach during his initial athletic years while at the Morant Bay High School (MBHS) in St Thomas. The trainer revealed that Parchment ended up on the school's track team after accompanying a friend to a training session and that he earned his alias 'Blab' because of his limited athletic ability.

"He was tall and awkward, two long hands and feet and with no running style at all, but my philosophy has always been that once you're willing to work and train, no matter how slow or untalented you seem, you can remain on my team... Once you train hard you will achieve. So he did all the events -- shot put, discus, javelin, high and long jumps, 100m, 200m and 400m and eventually he showed his prowess in the hurdles," Bryan shared.

The coach told THE STAR that Parchment displayed unmatched determination and dedication to track and field.

"No matter how much he failed, he turned up at training every single day, and he continued to work hard, and this is what he still does. He's very humble and coachable and so you will get results from him. I just want to congratulate him and hope that we will get more Hansle Parchments from Morant Bay High School."

The popular St Thomas institution is known to have in the past aced Eastern Championships and done relatively well at the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls' Champs. Preceding Parchment, was alumna Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn who, as an athlete, specialised in 100 and 200-metre events, and has competed at four Olympic Games, winning two silver medals at the 1992 games held in Barcelona, Spain.

Cuthbert-Flynn was in attendance at a homecoming ceremony held at the school to celebrate Parchment's win in the 110m hurdles at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

"We're just really pleased and even more thrilled that its Hansle, who is from St Thomas and even more so Port Morant where I'm also from and the same school ... its really wonderful.

I think this can motivate other student athletes here who can say Juliet did it back in the 80s and 90s and here is Hansle also doing it. I think it will help the school and athletic department to push and get athletes out."

Parchment, meanwhile, gave his assurance that he is willing to assist with the revamping of the track and field programme at his alma mater.

"Once it's about building up Morant Bay High, I am on board. Mr Bryan is one of my main supporters so I have to be a part of that. This was the foundation ... Where it all started. This is where I learnt all the events because I did heptathlon at Champs and Mr Bryan drilled a lot of technique in me, so this is where most of it started and it really set me on the right path as an athlete and world-beater," he said.