Omar McLeod finally gave Jamaica a gold medal to celebrate at the world track and field championships.
After Usain Bolt and Elaine Thompson lost 100m finals, it was McLeod who won the 110m hurdles title in London on Monday night.
“The camp was really daunting, and I really wanted to bring that spark back,” McLeod, the Olympic champion who led from hurdle one and clocked 13.04 seconds, told media in London. “I particularly wanted to come out here and dedicate this win to Usain Bolt‘s retirement.”
McLeod held off Russian Sergey Shubenkov by one tenth of a second. Shubenkov, the 2015 World champion, was excluded from the Olympics because of Russia’s ban for its poor anti-doping record. Russia is still banned. Shubenkov, who has never failed a drug test, was one of many Russians allowed to compete in London as a neutral athlete.
Hungary’s Balazs Baji grabbed bronze, while 2012 Olympic champion and world-record holder Aries Merritt was fifth. Merritt, who earned 2015 World bronze with kidney function at less than 20 percent, was in the mix for bronze up to the final hurdle.
“I failed to execute late in the race, which is my specialty,” Merritt said. “Finishing is what I do best.”
The U.S. failed to earn a world 110m hurdles medal for the first time, one year after failing to earn an Olympic 110m hurdles medal for the first time (excluding the 1980 Moscow Games). Merritt was the lone U.S. finalist.
“I’m not even supposed to be running,” said Merritt, who underwent a kidney transplant four days after 2015 Worlds and missed the Rio Olympic team by .01. “So just me being here in the final is definitely a blessing.
“Now that I’ve had a year of proper training, the next year that I run will definitely be better.”
In other events Monday, Kenyan Faith Kipyegon took gold in the women’s 1500m, .17 ahead of a hard-charging Jenny Simpson. Scrutinized South African Caster Semenya earned bronze with a late surge.
Kipyegon, the Rio gold medalist, became the first Kenyan woman to win a world 1500m title.
Simpson captured her fourth global medal following her 2011 World title, 2013 World silver medal and 2016 Olympic bronze medal.
Simpson, 29, transitioned to the 1500m fully in 2011, after making the Beijing Olympics in the steeplechase, and has turned into one of the greatest American distance runners in history. In her five global 1500m finals, she has earned four medals. In the outlier, she ran the last 600 meters with one shoe.
Semenya, scrutinized after a gender-testing controversy in 2009, made the podium in her first 1500m outside of Africa since 2011. Semenya is an overwhelming favorite in the 800m (final Sunday) after taking Olympic gold in that event.
Allyson Felix and Shaunae Miller-Uibo set up a rematch in Wednesday’s 400m final. Felix topped Miller-Uibo for the 2015 World title, but Miller-Uibo edged Felix in Rio with that famous finish-line dive.
Wayde van Niekerk, looking to join Michael Johnson as the only men to sweep the 200m and 400m at an Olympics or worlds, headlined the qualifiers from the 200m heats.
Van Niekerk races the 400m final Tuesday, the 200m semifinals Wednesday and, if he advances, the 200m final Thursday.
Both the 200m and 400m are lacking superstars. Neither 2008 Olympic champion LaShawn Merritt nor 2012 Olympic champion Kirani James is in the 400m final. Usain Bolt and Justin Gatlin skipped the 200m this year, and Olympic silver medalist Andre De Grasse withdrew before worlds with a strained hamstring.
Olympic champion Kerron Clement led the qualifiers into Wednesday’s 400m hurdles final.
In the triple jump, Yulimar Rojas earned Venezuela’s first world medal. It was gold. Rojas reversed the Rio Olympic one-two with Colombian Caterine Ibarguen, edging her by two centimeters.
Poland’s Anita Wlodarczyk repeated as world champion in the hammer throw, one year after repeating as Olympic champion. Wlodarczyk, who last lost in June 2014, threw 77.90 meters to win by six feet, but she was 17 feet shy of her world record from last August.
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