World leading hurdler Kyron A. McMaster has a new coach, Jamaican Lennox Graham. Photo: Provided

The 20-year-old McMaster, the only man to break 48 seconds this past season, lost his longtime coach, Dag Samuels, during the passage of Hurricane Irma that ravaged the Territory in early September.

Following Samuels' death, McMaster flew to the United States in search of a new coach and after careful consideration made the decision to go with the Jamaican.

"My new coach will be Lennox Graham and I will be based in South Carolina,” said McMaster, who under Samuels’s tutelage, set three of the four fastest times in the world this year.

Graham was recently appointed Assistant Coach at Clemson University after running a successful programme at Division II contenders Johnson C Smith University for the last decade.

Graham also coaches 2015 World 100m hurdles champion Danielle Williams and her sister Shermaine.

Family decision

McMaster said the final decision came after much deliberation.

“This decision was made solely sitting down with my parents and family. We wanted an environment where we are not crowded too much or around a lot of people where I can be a lot more focused knowing what happened with my coach and the hurricane and everything,” he said.

“Away from a lot of people where I would not be exposed to a lot of questions or people looking at me certain ways.”

"Dag was like a father"

Given the longstanding relationship McMaster shared with Samuels, he revealed just how difficult it was to move on from his now deceased former coach.

“It was hard, because it’s like you’re making a decision to start a bond with somebody else from scratch,” he said, “so it is not easy to get a new coach like that or even compare a new coach because Dag was my father figure apart from my real father.”

McMaster ran his world-leading time of 47.80 seconds at the Jamaica International Invitational in May. However, his campaign for a gold medal at the IAAF World Championships in London in August ended early as he was disqualified after his opening-round run.

He would later return to beat the World Champion at a Diamond League Meet.