London: The tune blaring across the stadium sound system was unmistakable: ‘Jamming’ by Bob Marley. The flag the winner paraded around the track was familiar, too: The black, green and gold cross of Jamaica.
That 110-metre hurdler Omar McLeod was at the center of this celebration Monday night wasn’t all that big a surprise. That McLeod was the first from the island to do the honours at this year’s IAAF World Championships still feels like something of a shock.
The 23-year-old from Kingston did what Usain Bolt and Elaine Thompson could not the previous nights in the 100 meters – namely, powered toward the finish line and left the field behind to bring a gold medal home to a country that has come to expect nothing less.
“I took it upon myself to reroute that and bring that spark back,” said McLeod, who added this gold medal to his Olympic title from last year. “I’m happy I did that. This medal is for you Usain (Bolt) brother. You are just a legend.”
McLeod won in 13.04 seconds, while the world-record holder, American Aries Merritt, finished fifth. It marked the first disappointment of the meet for the US on a straightaway where Justin Gatlin and Tori Bowie won the 100m men’s and women’s titles.
“Everyone in the hurdling game is hurdling well,” said Merritt, who was competing in his first major competition since a kidney transplant after the 2015 Worlds. “The event is much deeper than it has been in a long time.”
Sergey Shubenkov of Russia finished 0.1 seconds behind McLeod for the silver medal, though that prize will go in nobody’s column.
Shubenkov came in as the defending World Champion, but was not able to compete at the Olympics last year because of the doping scandal that has engulfed his country. He is one of the 19 Russians cleared to compete in London this year as a neutral.
However all the neutral are wearing aqua, red and pink uniforms with no hint of the Russian flag or any other Russian symbol.
“Not a big deal,” Shubenkov said. “There are a lot of people in my hometown (Barnaul in Russia, but he is not allowed to say that as a neutral) it’s 4 or 5 am there, and they’re not sleeping. It means a lot for my family. It means a lot for every person in my country that was watching it, supporting me. The color of the vest doesn’t matter.”
Hungary’s Balazs Baji took a surprise bronze in 13.28s when none expected him to be on the podium. “Well, this is simply great,” an elated Baji could only blurt out.