The track and field world took notice of Jehue Gordon at the 2009 World Championships, in Berlin, Germany. Just 17 at the time, he finished fourth in the men's 400 metres hurdles final in an impressive 48.26 seconds, missing out on bronze by a mere three-hundredths of a second.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has also taken notice. Gordon is one of 26 athletes whose journeys on the Road to London 2012 are being followed by the BBC in its "World Olympics Dreams" project. The elite group being featured on BBC's television, radio and online platforms includes Jamaican sprint great Usain Bolt.

Everyone else should have taken notice of Gordon last Friday, when he struck gold at the IAAF World Junior Championships, in Moncton, Canada, becoming the first athlete from the English-speaking Caribbean to land the men's 400m hurdles title at the global under-20 meet.

To borrow a line from the Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes 1972 classic, if you don't know Jehue Gordon by now, you will never, never, never know him.

This young man is the real deal. He is supremely talented, with the potential to become one of the greatest one-lap hurdlers of all time.

It is not inconceivable that Gordon could become only the second man in history to dive under 47 seconds in the 400m hurdles.

He is well aware of his ability, confidently declaring that he wants to be the next Kevin Young. Young is the world record holder, the American having established the 46.78 seconds standard in his golden run at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Eighteen years have passed, and no one has come close to erasing Young's mark from the books.

But while 46.78 is not an immediate target for Gordon, there is another long-standing record within his grasp. Way back in 1984, another American, Danny Harris, stopped the clock at 48.02 seconds, which still stands as the world junior (under-20) record.

Harris' clocking seemed to be an unbeatable record at one time, T&T-born American Kerron Clement coming closest to the mark when he produced a 48.51 run in winning the world junior title, in Grosseto, Italy. That was until 17-year-old Gordon crossed the finish line at the World Champs last year in 48.26 seconds.

The fastest 17-year-old in history is now 18. He turns 19 on December 15, and at the end of the 2010 season will say goodbye to junior athletics. But before Gordon bids farewell he would love to replace Harris at the top of the all-time under-20 list. He is a professional athlete now, and will have opportunities to better the 48.02 standard at meets in Europe next month.

But whether or not he moves into the top spot on the all-time junior list, Gordon remains a hot prospect for the 2012 London Olympics. The BBC has recognised his potential and, whatever happens at the London Games, will not be taken by surprise.

Gordon was still a primary school student at Maraval RC when he got his first taste of track and field competition.

"The physical education teacher, Miss Ford-Felicien," Gordon explains, "she saw the potential and decided to enter me in Primary School Games.

"(My) last year in primary school," he continues, "I made it into the National Champs, and that's when I realised things could go better from here. I continued to train hard with Mr Kelvin Nancoo, and from there I was eventually the National Primary School 800 champion."

Gordon attended Belmont Boys' Secondary for five years. He repeated his CXC exams at Queen's Royal College, and started sixth form there. However, Gordon decided to turn pro, and opted not to continue his Advanced Level studies.

Gordon represented T&T at the 2007 Carifta Games, in the Turks and Caicos Islands, where he finished eighth and last in the boys' under-17 400m final in 51.03 seconds. Who would have thought that just two years later, he would be running almost three seconds faster over the same distance and with ten barriers placed in his path?

In 2008, Gordon bagged boys' under-20 400m hurdles bronze at the Carifta Games in St Kitts.

He then gave the world a glimpse of his potential by reaching the semi-finals at the World Junior Championships, in Bydgoszcz, Poland at the tender age of 16. The fastest time that season for the talented teen from Papyia, Morne Coco Road, Maraval was 51.39 seconds.

In 2009, Gordon was on fire. At the Carifta Games, in St Lucia, he earned gold in the boys' under-20 110m hurdles and 400m hurdles events, and was part of the Trinidad and Tobago team that triumphed in the 4x400m relay. He followed up with bronze at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Championships, in Cuba, the teenager proving his worth in older company in a then personal best 49.45 seconds.

Following his fine run at the CAC Champs, silver at the Pan Am Junior Championships in front of his home crowd at the Hasely Crawford Stadium was a bit of a disappointment.

But Gordon would soon forget his Pan Am Juniors performance. Just 16 days later, he stunned the world.

I was privileged to be in Berlin, Germany to witness first-hand Gordon's "arrival" on the global stage.

Following his scintillating 48.26 seconds clocking and fourth-place finish in the World Championship final, I told former T&T sprint star Ato Boldon that I had never been in such awe of a T&T athlete.

Nothing Boldon had ever produced on the track, nothing sprint phenom Darrel Brown had ever done during his remarkable junior years had surpassed what I saw that day at the Olympic Stadium, in Berlin—a

17-year-old matching strides with the best in the world, and coming up just short in his bid for precious metal.

Less than one year later, he proved the Berlin run was no fluke, beating his peers to become world junior champion. But what's even more exciting for T&T is that the best is yet to come from Jehue Augustus Gordon.