Omar McLeod emerged Jamaica’s first GOLD medallist at the ongoing IAAF World Championships in London after beating defending champion Sergey Shubenkov to claim his first World title on Day 4 of the competition.
The Rio 2016 Olympic Champion stormed to GOLD after clocking a time of 13.04s to finish ahead of Shubenkov who took the Silver in 13.14s. Balazs Baji of Hungary was the surprise Bronze medallist, holding off Frenchman Garfield Darien with his time of 13.28s.
World Record (WR) holder Aries Merritt who had looked comfortable in the heats and semis, faded to 5th position (13.31s) as Shane Brathwaite and Orlando Ortega settled for 6th and 7th respectively in 13.32s and 13.37s.
McLeod’s victory certainly gives the Jamaicans something to celebrate after missing out on GOLD in the men and women’s 100m races.
Meanwhile the men’s 400m Hurdles also took place with Olympic Champion Kerron Clement booking his spot in the final after winning Heat 1 with the overall fastest time of 48.35s. Also qualifying from the same heat were Karsten Warholm (48.43s), Juander Santos who set a Personal Best (PB) of 48.95s, and Kemar Mowatt (48.66s).
TJ Holmes made it two Americans in the final by racing to victory in 49.12s to win Heat 2, as Kariem Hussein followed in 49.13s. World Junior Champion Jaheel Hyde missed out on the final, having finished 3rd with a time of 49.75s.
Qatar’s Abderrahaman Samba and Yasmani Copello of Turkey were the final qualifiers for the men’s 400m Hurdles final, finishing 1st and 2nd in Heat 3 in in 48.75s and 48.91s respectively.
