By Emma Childs
Even though he felt that his race was “awful,” Omar McLeod still beat out a world-class field Saturday at the Prefontaine Classic that included the world record holder, Aries Merritt.
“Ridiculously awful,” he said. “I was floating too much, I was reaching, I was off balance at times, but I managed to pull through.”
McLeod won the Pre Classic in a time of 13.01 seconds, his fellow Jamaica teammate Ronald Levy came in second in 13.10 and Hayward favorite Devon Allen placed third in 13.11.
McLeod is the reigning Olympic gold medalist in this event and is the only elite high hurdler to take eight steps to reach the first hurdle.
Merritt placed fourth in a time of 13.13 seconds, that is .16 off of his world record, 12.97 seconds. The 30-year-old say he’s happy with his race and credits McLeod as a phenomenal athlete.
“He’s young, and it’s really good to see athletes like him and Devon rise up and take the throne from the older people,” said Merritt.
While it is still the beginning of the outdoor season for most of these high hurdlers, Allen ran the second fastest time in his career so far. He says it helped to race against such a talented field and McLeod.
“He’s super quick, so if you don’t get out, you’re going to be behind right from the beginning,” Allen said. “So it kind of helps you get a good start. I tried to stay with him the whole way, but, I mean, he’s awesome.”
McLeod, on the other hand, wasn’t aware of his competition at all.
“I didn’t feel him in the race, I didn’t care that he was in the race, I didn’t care about nobody in the race,” he said. “I was just focusing in my lane. You know that’s the thing you have to do in hurdles, focus on your own self.”
He said he feels more pressure to win for his country than his competitors and that he wants to be a role model for little kids back home.
“Jamaicans, they are kind of spoiled in winning medals thanks to Usain Bolt,” McLeod said. “So every time you go on the track, you only want a gold medal.”
Despite feeling like he did not have a handle on his technical mechanics during the hurdle event today, he had fun at Hayward.
“That’s when I perform good, when I have fun,” McLeod said. “So I’m going to keep it that way.”
