One of the hot men in 400m hurdles, national 400 metres hurdles champion, Isa Phillips, clocked a smart 48.18 seconds on Tuesday to beat 2007 world champion Kerron Clement at the IAAF Grand Prix meet in Lausanne, Switzerland. With his consistent form, Phillips staked his claim as one of the favourites for the gold medal at the World Championships in Berlin, Germany, next month.

At the end of last month, Phillips dethroned McFarlane in the men's 400m hurdles to capture his first title at the National Senior Champion-ships in a then world-leading and personal best time of 48.05 seconds. McFarlane was second in a respectable 48.54 seconds.

Phillips, a former St Andrew Technical High standout, also won the event in 48.09, in Madrid, Spain, two weeks ago. McFarlane was second in 48.53.

This year, Phillips is looking to make that big step to a World Championships final after dropping out at the semi-final stage two years ago in Osaka, Japan. At last year's Beijing Olympics he was again unlucky, placing fifth in his semi-final and failing to advance.