From BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

in Beijing, China

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

A COMEBACK run out of lane nine in another national record breaking performance was more than enough on Sunday to get Jeffery Gibson into the final of the men's 400 metres hurdles at the IAAF World Championships.

Gibson, seeking his third consecutive international medal, had to dig deep to come from behind on the final straight after he cleared the tenth and final hurdle to post a second place finish in 48.37 seconds, just short of catching Russia's Denis Kudryavtsev, the winner of the heat in a personal best and the fastest qualifying time of 48.23.

"I'm so blessed and happy. I'm still in awe at how fast I ran, but I knew I had to run that fast in order to make the finals," said Gibson, who is still in a celebratory mood after turning 25 on August 15.

Gibson, who improved on his previous national record of 48.51 seconds set last month in winning the gold at the Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada, had the third fastest time overall.

After a well-deserved day's rest omn Monday, Gibson will be back on Tuesday at the Bird's Nest stadium to run for another medal in lane seven as he looks to add not only to his Pan Am triumph but also his Commonwealth Games' bronze medal from last year in Glasgow, Scotland.

Full report and photographs in Monday's Tribune.