World’s best
... McLeod, Thompson make respected top list
JWaite revealed that although players from other clubs are showing interest in joining the ‘Junglists’, these are players that he knows little about, and he would need to have a closer look at them before making a final decision on whether to pursue.
“No definitely not (identify any player amaica’s Omar McLeod and Elaine Thompson both appear in a prominent listing of the world’s top 10 athletes, male and female, respectively, for 2017.
McLeod, world champion in the 110 metre hurdles, is the ninth-ranked man in the eyes of the respected US publication TRACK AND FIELD NEWS, while Thompson, the world’s top female sprinter, appears at number 10. In addition, McLeod’s national record run of 12.90 seconds was voted among the 10 best performances of the year across all events.
Based on voting by a 37-member panel of international experts, the annual TRACK AND FIELD NEWS world rankings gave the top spot to Qatari high jumper Muta Essar Barsham, with American pole vaulter Sam Kendricks second. The South African pair of long jumper Luvo Manyonga and sprinter Wayde van Niekerk, American triple jump king Christian Taylor, hammer thrower Pawel Fajdek of Poland, British long distance maestro Mo, Farah and marathoner Eliud Kipchoge are also ahead of McLeod.
On the women’s side, Poland’s dominating hammer thrower Anita Wlodarczyk reigned supreme for the second year in a row. Russian high jumper Mariya Lasitskene was voted into the runner-up spot in the ladies top 10. Thompson, who had the fastest two 100metre times of the season at 10.71 and 10.78 seconds, is the only woman in the elite group who did not win her event at the World Championships in London. American Tori Bowie and Dafne Schippers of Holland, the champions of the 100 and 200 metres respectively, in London, do not appear in the top 10. That list has Wlodarczyk, Lasitskene, Greek pole vaulter Katerini Stefanidi, heptathlon queen Nafi