Rusheen McDonald just missed a medal by .08 of a second in the 400m final, finishing fourth in 44.28 at the Tokyo World Championship in Japan on Thursday.

The 33-year-old McDonald, one of the surprise top performers, has shown remarkable improvement and consistency throughout the Championship after failing to achieve the qualifying mark.

He only made the Jamaican team through the world quota ranking system, with him coming to the Championship sitting at 23 in the world.

The gold went to Collen Kebinatshipi, who created history for Botswana, becoming his nation’s first-ever men’s world champion, stopping the clock in a world-leading national record of 43.53.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Jereem Richards ran the race of his life from lane two, grabbing silver in a national record of 43.72. adding to the world 200m bronze he claimed in London in 2017.

Botswana’s Bayapo Ndori joined his compatriot Kebinatshipi on the podium, clinching bronze with a season’s best 44.20, while the third runner from the African nation, Lee Eppie, was eighth in 44.77, making them the big favourites for the 4×400 relay.

McDonald, who started slowly, entered the homestretch in third but just faded in the last 15 metres into fourth.

The much-maligned runner, whose national record of 43.93, set 10 years ago at the 2015 World Championship, was seen as a fluke, has won the hearts of the Jamaican populace.

He ran 44.38 in the heats, 44.04 in the semis and closed out with 44.28, which shows his remarkable consistency and improvement coming down from 46.60 in May.

He has promised to be back next year, and who will ever doubt the man they call ‘Big Boy’.