Reigning World Indoor 60-meter hurdles champion will not seek repeat in Birmingham

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

There will be a new men's 60-meter hurdles gold medalist crowned March 4 at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Birmingham, U.K.

Jamaica's Omar McLeod confirmed Friday with the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association that he would not be pursuing another World Indoor title, according to The Gleaner. McLeod was announced as being part of Jamaica's 30-member roster, but had never intended to compete in Birmingham, according to his agent Claude Bryan.

McLeod, who is tied for third in the world this year in the 60 hurdles at 7.46 seconds, is also the reigning Olympic and IAAF World Outdoor champion in the 110-meter hurdles.

He competed in four indoor meets this season, racing the 60 hurdles twice. McLeod won the Kentucky Invitational in 7.53 on Jan. 13, then took second to Florida sophomore Grant Holloway by a 7.42 to 7.52 margin Feb. 9 at Clemson's Tiger Paw Invitational. Holloway broke McLeod's collegiate record in winning the race.

With Holloway, the world leader, also not competing in Birmingham to prepare for the NCAA Division 1 Indoor Championships on March 9-10 in College Station, Texas, the battle for the gold medal could come down to Americans Jarret Eaton and Aries Merritt.

Eaton won the title Sunday at the USATF Indoor Championships in New Mexico in 7.43, which ranks second in the world this year. Merritt took second in 7.46, equal to McLeod for third in the world, and captured the 2012 World Indoor title in Istanbul, Turkey.

Omo Osaghae won the 2014 World Indoor title for the U.S. in Sopot, Poland, but the Americans were shut out of a medal in the men's 60 hurdles in 2016 in Portland, Ore.