Omar McLeod (born 25 April 1994) is a Jamaican professional

hurdler Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today ...

and sprinter competing in the

60 m hurdles 60 metres hurdles is a distance in hurdling Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on bo ...

and

110 m hurdles The 110 metres hurdles, or 110-metre hurdles, is a hurdling track and field event for men. It is included in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympic Games. The female counterpart is the 100 metres hurdles. As part of a racing event, ten hurd ...

. In the latter event, he is the 2016 Olympic champion and 2017 World champion. He was

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

indoor champion in the 60 m hurdles in 2014 and 2015 and outdoor champion in the 110 m hurdles in 2015; he turned professional after the 2015 collegiate season, forgoing his two remaining years of collegiate eligibility. His personal best in the 110 m hurdles (12.90 seconds) ranks him equal 7th on the world all-time list.

Early career

McLeod was a promising high school athlete, running for Manchester High School and later Kingston College; during his early career, he competed in both the 110 m and

400 m hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, onc ...

. He represented Jamaica at the 2011 World Youth Championships in

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

, qualifying for the finals in both hurdles events; he placed fourth in the 110 m hurdles and eighth in the 400 m hurdles. At the

CARIFTA Games The CARIFTA Games is an annual athletics competition founded by the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA). The games were first held in 1972 and consist of track and field events including sprint races, hurdles, middle distance track ev ...

, he won gold in the under-20 400 m hurdles for three consecutive years (2011, 2012 and 2013); he scored another five medals in the 110 m hurdles and

4 × 400 m relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. Evolution of the Hi ...

including a relay gold in 2013. He also won gold in the relay at the 2012 CAC Junior Championships in

San Salvador San Salvador () is the Capital city, capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its San Salvador Department, eponymous department. It is the country's largest agglomeration, serving as the country's political, cultural, educational and fin ...

. In 2013, his final year in high school, McLeod set Jamaican junior records in both the 110 m (13.24 s) and 400 m hurdles (49.98 s) at the Boys and Girls Championships; he was the first Jamaican high schooler to break 50 s in the latter. After graduating from Kingston College, he went to the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

on a track and field

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

Collegiate career

McLeod had no experience running indoors before his move to the United States, but adapted rapidly; he won the 60 m hurdles as a

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

at the 2014 NCAA indoor championships in

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

with a personal best 7.57 s in the heats and 7.58 s in the final. Outdoors, he placed second in the 110 m hurdles at both the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

(SEC) championships and West Regionals, but pulled a

hamstring A hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in human anatomy between the hip and the knee: from medial to lateral, the semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris. Etymology The word " ham" is derived from the Old ...

at the NCAA championships and missed the final. Omar McLeod racing at the 2016 Doha Diamond League meeting

McLeod returned to competition in 2015; he won the SEC indoor title in a personal best 7.49. At the 2015 NCAA indoor championships he repeated as champion, running 7.55 in the heats and 7.45 in the final; his time in the final was a new Jamaican indoor record, broke Reggie Torian's NCAA record from 1997 and tied with Cuba's

Orlando Ortega Orlando Ortega Alejo (born 29 July 1991) is a Cuban-born Spanish track and field athlete who competes in the 110 metres hurdles. His personal best for the event is 12.94 seconds and he was the silver medallist at the 2016 Olympics. Career Orte ...

for the world's fastest time that winter. Outdoors, McLeod set a personal best of 13.21 at the

Drake Relays The Drake Relays is an outdoor track and field event held in Des Moines, Iowa, Des Moines, Iowa, in Drake Stadium (Drake University), Drake Stadium on the campus of Drake University. Billed as ''America's Athletic Classic'', it is regarded as one ...

and won at both the SEC meet and the West Regionals. He entered the NCAA outdoor championships in

Eugene Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Gene Eugene, stage name of Canadian born actor, record producer, engineer, composer and musi ...

as the favorite; he won, running 13.08 in the heats and 13.01 in the final, but both times were wind-aided. Only two collegiate athlete,

Renaldo Nehemiah Renaldo Nehemiah (born March 24, 1959) is a retired American track and field athlete who specialized in the 110 m hurdles. He was ranked number one in the world for four straight years, and is a former world record holder. Nehemiah is the first ...

in 1979, had run faster in any conditions. In addition to his hurdles victory, McLeod ran on the Arkansas relay teams in both the

4 × 100 m relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral (linguistics), numeral and numerical digit, digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is tetraphobia, considered unlucky i ...

and the 4 × 400 m relay; Arkansas won the 4 × 100 m in 38.47 and placed sixth in the longer relay. After the 2015 collegiate season McLeod turned professional and signed an endorsement deal with

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine giv ...

, forgoing his two remaining years as an NCAA athlete; although he stayed at Arkansas to complete his business studies, he lost his eligibility to represent the

Arkansas Razorbacks The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Fayetteville. The University of Arkans ...

Professional career

McLeod won the 110 m hurdles at the 2015 Jamaican Championships, defeating national record holder

Hansle Parchment Hansle Parchment (born 17 June 1990) is a Jamaican track and field athlete, competing in the 110 metres hurdles. He won the gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics in the event. Parchment is an alumnus of the University of the West Indies, Kingston a ...

in a wind-legal 12.97 and breaking 13 seconds for the first time; the time was world-leading for a week. He made his debut as a professional at the István Gyulai Memorial in

Székesfehérvár Székesfehérvár (; ; ; ; Serbian language, Serbian: ''Стони Београд''; ), known colloquially as Fehérvár (), is a city in central Hungary, and the country's ninth-largest city. It is the Regions of Hungary, regional capital of C ...

on 7 July, but pulled up with a

cramp A cramp is a sudden, involuntary, painful skeletal muscle contraction or overshortening associated with electrical activity. While generally temporary and non-damaging, they can cause significant pain and a paralysis-like immobility of the aff ...

and failed to finish. At the start of the 2016 outdoor season, he ran 9.99 seconds for the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

, becoming the first athlete to complete the 110 m hurdles in under 13 seconds and also break the

10-second barrier The 10-second barrier is the physical and psychological barrier of completing the 100 metres sprint in under ten seconds. The achievement is traditionally regarded as the hallmark of a world-class male sprinter. Its significance has become less ...

. At the

2016 Rio Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, he won Gold in the

. Based on his outstanding athletic performance, McLeod was crowne
Jamaica's 2017 Sportsman of the Year
During 2017, he won six of seven 110 m hurdles races, including the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

in London. At the 2019 World Championships, McLeod was disqualified in the final for a lane violation, impeding

. Ortega was second in the 110 metres hurdles until McLeod stumbled into him and arrested his momentum. After the appeal of the Spanish Federation, the IAAF awarded Ortega with a bronze medal.

Statistics

Information from

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

profile or Track & Field Results Reporting System unless otherwise noted.

Personal bests

Seasonal bests

International championship results

National championship results

Circuit performances

Representing

110 metres hurdles

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fifteen invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics one-day meet competitions. The inaugural season was ...

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

: 2016,

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

: 2016, 2017, 2018 **

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

: 2019

Track records

As of 7 September 2024, McLeod holds the following track records for 110 metres hurdles.

Notes

References

External links

* *
Omar McLeod
at the

* *

Videos

Rio Replay: Men's 110m Hurdles Final
by the

Olympic Channel Olympic Channel is an over-the-top Internet television service operated by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It was launched on August 21, 2016, alongside the closing of the 2016 Summer Olympics. The service aims to maintain year-round ...

via

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

Men's 110m Hurdles Final , London 2017
by

via

{{DEFAULTSORT:McLeod, Omar 1994 births Living people Athletes from Kingston, Jamaica Jamaican male hurdlers 21st-century Jamaican sportsmen Jamaican male sprinters Arkansas Razorbacks men's track and field athletes World Athletics Championships athletes for Jamaica Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Jamaica Olympic gold medalists for Jamaica Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships medalists Olympic male hurdlers World Athletics Championships winners World Athletics Indoor Championships winners People educated at Kingston College (Jamaica) NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships winners Diamond League winners