The new Abdul Hakim Sani Brown

Abdul Hakim Sani Brown is on the comeback trail.

Finally.

For every athlete that was thrown a lifeline with the postponement of Tokyo 2020, there were those who wished the Games went ahead as scheduled. Sani Brown would probably qualify as the latter.

Going into the year 2020, hopes were immensely high for the Japanese sprinter who in 2015, broke Usain Bolt's world youth championships record in both the 100 and 200 metres to emerge as an up-and-coming star.

In 2019, Sani Brown had run the 100m in 9.97 seconds, then a Japan record and only the second man from his country to crack the 10-second barrier.

Also that year at the worlds in Doha, he helped Japan to a 4x100m Asian record of 37.43. It was all coming together at the right time for Sani Brown.

But with the Games being postponed in March 2020, it all started falling apart.

No practice. No meets. No Japan. And as Sani Brown revealed last week at the national championships in Osaka, he was battling a hernia that forced him to miss the cut in the 100m for Tokyo.

He made the team in the 200m but registered a rather pedestrian 21.41 to finish sixth in his qualifying group. That would be the end of Sani Brown's Olympic debut.

Last Friday (10 June) however, Sani Brown - who is still 23 - appeared to be turning the page.

For the first time in three years, he won the 100m in 10.08, his third national title. This, despite a poor jump off the blocks - an issue that has plagued Sani Brown throughout his career.

And his semi-final time of 10.04 qualified him for the 15-24 July world championships in Oregon in the United States.

"I reacted so slow it wasn't even funny", he said, looking noticeably fitter compared to last summer.

"You can't get left behind like that if you're to have any chance against the best. It's something I'll work on over the next month after I get back to the States. I have to take it up one more notch to get back to being the strong version of me.

"It's been a while since I was able to race without any issues. Before it started, I was so excited, I couldn't wait to compete.

"I'm at 10.04 now. It's a decent result. But I was able to get through the heats, semi-final and final so from hereon, I need to set faster times for myself and be competitive.

"This has turned out to be a productive meet".

Oregon will be his fourth world championships appearance where his goal will be to reach the 100m final.

"In the past, I've never been at my best in the 100m and this year, I want to be able to leave it all out there finally", he said. "I have to get the job done. I want to be happy with the race I have this time.

"I need to forget about the last three championships. I'm a new me. I'm going all in as a challenger and hopefully produce the result I'll be content with".