Omar’s gold
Former Arkansas Razorback Omar McLeod (center) of Jamaica wins the men’s Olympic 110-meter hurdles Tuesday night in Rio de Janeiro. McLeod became the first former male Razorback to win an individual gold medal in 24 years.
Omar McLeod became the first University of Arkansas male athlete to win an individual goal medal in 24 years Tuesday night.
McLeod, a three-time NCAA individual champion at Arkansas before going pro after his sophomore year in 2015, gained the lead quickly in the 110-meter hurdles and pulled away as he won in 13.05 seconds.
Before McLeod won the gold Tuesday, Mike Conley was the last Razorback male athlete to win individual gold, winning the triple jump at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.
Cuban-born Orlando Ortega of Spain took silver in 13.17 seconds, and Dimitri Bascou of France won bronze in 13.24.
It was Jamaica’s third track and field gold medal of this year’s Olympics. Usain Bolt won the men’s 100 on Monday while Elaine Thompson took the women’s 100 title on Friday.
“They harness medals,” McLeod said of his country’s sprint stars. “You want to do the same thing. It’s contagious. You want to feel how it feels. I felt how it feels.”
As a freshman, McLeod won the NCAA indoor title in the 60 hurdles. In his sophomore season in 2015, he won NCAA titles in the 60 hurdles indoors and the 110 hurdles outdoors and ran on the 400 relay team.
Earlier this year, McLeod won the world indoor 60 hurdles championship in Portland, Ore.
Jamaica has dominated the men’s 100- and 200-meter dash titles in the past decade, but it never had produced a male athlete who converted that raw pace into an Olympic title over the sprint hurdles.
American Devon Allen, who is a wide receiver at Oregon, finished fifth.
Antwon Hicks, who ran at Hot Springs High School and at Ole Miss, did not qualify for the final while representing
Nigeria, running a 14.26 to finish seventh in his semifinal heat.
Also Tuesday, former Razorbacks Sandi Morris and Tina Sutej each cleared 14 feet, 11 inches in pole vault qualifying Tuesday to be among a field of 12 to advance to Friday’s final.
Lexi Weeks, who will be a sophomore at Arkansas this year, cleared 14-7½ and finished 19th. She missed three attempts at 14-11.
Morris, the American record holder at 16-2, has been competing as a professional the past year after graduating from Arkansas in 2015.
“I competed in the World Championships last year in Beijing, and I think that gave me a good idea of what it would be like today,” Morris said. “Huge stadium, lots of fans, and kind of a foreign situation.
“It’s very different being in a meet in the U.S. versus overseas anywhere. Numbers are in metrics, some officials don’t speak English, they don’t call out who’s up, who’s on deck and who’s in the hole, so you just have to know where you are in line.”
Morris, 24, is competing at her first Olympics. She finished fourth at the World Outdoor Championships last year and was second at this year’s World Indoor Championships in Portland, Ore.
Weeks, from Cabot, traveled outside of the U.S. for the first time to compete in the Olympics. She cleared a
personal-best 15-5 at the U.S. Trials to take third.
“I can’t say that I’m not disappointed,” Weeks said. “I’ve cleared 14-11 lots of times this year. But I feel so blessed to even get to this point right here today.”
Weeks, 19, said the long track season may have taken a physical toll after she swept SEC and NCAA indoor and outdoor titles this year.
“I was definitely excited,” she said. “But I could feel today that I had a long season.”
Sutej, competing for Slovenia, advanced to her first Olympic final. She finished 19th in the qualifying round in 2012.