DOHA, Qatar, CMC – Jamaican Omar McLeod held off a late burst from fellow countryman Hansle Parchment, to win the men’s sprint hurdles at the season-opening Doha Grand Prix of the IAAF Diamond League here Friday.
Running out of lane four, the 22-year-old McLeod burst from the blocks to assume a healthy lead before Parchment roared back over the last 30 metres to just miss out at the line.
McLeod was timed at 13.05 seconds while Parchment clocked 13.10. Spain’s Orlando Ortego took third in 13.12.
Omar McLeod … captured the men’s sprint hurdles.
In the men’s 400 metres, Trinidadian Machel Cedenio ran second to former World and Olympic champion, LaShawn Merritt who won the event in 44.41 seconds.
Cedenio, a silver medallist at the Pan American Games in Toronto last year, clocked 44.68 while Qatar’s Abdalelah Haroun finished third in 44.81.
The 20-year-old Cedenio survived a stumble at the start to run a strong backstretch and was challenging the leaders coming off the final turn and into the stetch.
However, Merritt pulled away in the late stages and Cedenio was forced to then fight off Abdalelah Haroun.
In the women’s 100 metres, former World champion Veronica Campbell-Brown of Jamaica finished third in the 100 metres in 10.91 seconds as American star Tori Bowie crossed the line first in 10.80.
Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands was second in 10.83. Another Jamaican Simone Facey trailed in sixth in 11.05. Meanwhile, Jamaican Kaliese Spencer could only do enough to claim third spot in the 400 metres hurdles in a time of 55.02, behind eventual winner Eilidh Doyle of Great Britain in 54.53.
