Above: Kirani James

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Few could have seen this coming.

Kirani James, the Grenadian wunderkind who brought home his country’s first-ever gold medal in London last summer, finished sixth in the 400M at the World Championships in Moscow on Tuesday.

The gold was taken by LaShawn Merritt, long considered James’ only challenger, who finished in 43.74, the fastest 400 time by anyone this year.

Merritt was followed by countryman Tony McQuay and the Dominican Republic’s Luguelin Santos, who finished in 44.52.

James finished in 44.99, ahead of only last-place finisher Anderson Henriques, who finished in 45.03.

The 20-year-old James looked to have lost steam through the latter portion of the race.

But if history has been any indicator, this will only fuel the young Grenadian’s fire through the rest of the Diamond League season and the years to come.