Back in the thick of it

OLYMPIC CHAMPION in 2016, Omar McLeod, has thrown his hat into the ring with the Olympics and just as importantly, Jamaica’s National Championships, fast approaching.

Having run quite sparingly this season, yesterday, at the World Athletics World Continental Tour Gold meet in Turku, Finland, the 110-metre specialist clocked 13.25 seconds, just a hundredth of a second out from the fastest Jamaican this year, Rasheed Broadbell.

“We love the small wins which ultimately matriculate into bigger rewards,” said McLeod on social media website Instagram, which, in an Olympic year and with the National Championships just nine days away, could be quite ominous.

Broadbell is the reigning national champion but is also just two-hundredth of a second quicker this year than Olympic champion, Hansle Parchment.

At 12.90, McLeod is the fastest Jamaican in the field but has suffered a number of setbacks with injury and unfortunate circumstances. In 2021, McLeod finished at the back of the field at the National Championships, dubbed Trials, after hitting a hurdle, and was a no-show in 2022.

The battle among the top three becomes even more interesting when the opposing styles of the three are considered.

Broadbell and Parchment are notoriously slow starters, while McLeod gets out quickly.

If either Broadbell or Parchment has too bad of a start, they may not be able to catch the man who was once the world’s quickest and sought to overturn the world record at each time of the asking.

The United States Aries Merritt is the current holder of that world record at 12.80 seconds.

And McLeod has his eyes fixed on these Olympics.

“Mood after hitting the Olympic standard & a season best,” he wrote in relation to a smiling picture after the performance in Turku.

While the three are the big names and expected to hold the country’s three spots to the Games, Orlando Bennett, who has gone 13.38 this year, might be in the mix to upset the apple cart.

But there are two athletes who are running around those types of times.

Lafranz Campbell has gone 13.37, and Phillip Lemonious, has clocked 13.38.

Tyler Mason seems a little off colour this season, having clocked 13.47 at his best, but his talent over the sprint hurdles is undeniable and he may very well be part of the conversation at day’s end.