McLeod finishes on top in Boston
LONG jumper Carey McLeod was the only Jamaican winner at Sunday’s New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, a World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Boston, when he jumped 8.20m.
Sprinter Ackeem Blake was second in the men’s 60m final in 6.45 seconds, in his first indoor race, while Megan Tapper ran a lifetime best of 8.02 seconds in the women’s 60m hurdles final.
Meanwhile, Shashalee Forbes won the women’s 60m race at the ISTAF Indoors in Dusseldorf, Germany, on Sunday, after she ran 7.11 seconds to beat N’Ketia Seedo of the Netherlands with 7.15 seconds, and Alexandra Burghardt of Germany, 7.20 seconds.
Christania Williams was fifth in 7.30 seconds.
In Boston, McLeod won the event in the first round with his opening jump, as Great Britain’s Jacob Fincham-Dukes was second with 8.02m and American Juvaughn Harrison finished third with 7.87m.
McLeod also had a jump of 8.03m.
Blake led for most of the men’s 60m final but was just beaten to the tape by American Noah Lyles in a world-leading, personal best, meet record of 6.44 seconds.
The previous meet record of 6.45 seconds was set in 1999 by American Maurice Green. Ronnie Baker of the USA was third in a season’s best 6.54 seconds.
Tapper was seventh in the women’s 60m hurdles, beating her previous lifetime best of 8.03 seconds which was set two weeks ago at a meet in Astana, Kazakhstan.
American Tia Jones won with a world-leading personal best and meet record of 7.72 seconds, beating the old record of 7.82 seconds set by American Kendra Harrison in 2021.
Tobi Amusan was second, lowering her Nigerian record to 7.75 seconds which was under the 7.77 set on January 27 in Kazakhstan.
Devynne Charlton of The Bahamas finished third with 7.76 seconds.
LaFranz Campbell placed sixth in the men’s 60m hurdles in 7.66 seconds as American Grant Holloway broke his own meet record when he ran 7.35 seconds, under the 7.37 seconds he ran in 2022.
In the first round, Giano Roberts ran 7.81 seconds and Orlando Bennett clocked 7.87 seconds but failed to advance.
Junelle Bromfield led after 200m before fading to fifth in 53.60 seconds in the women’s 400m, while Briana Williams was ninth overall in the first round of the women’s 60m in 9.09 seconds and did not make it to the final.
