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Defening Olympic 110m hurdles champion, Omar McLeod is expressing his disappointment in missing out on the Tokyo Games after a shocking eighth-place finish in the Jamaican national senior trials on Sunday (June 27).

While admitting he was not at his best for the final, McLeod, taking to Twitter, slammed the apparent lack of respect demonstrated by the organising officials, as the athletes were notified last minute of a decision to switch the 110m hurdles finals to Sunday, nearly a day after the semi-finals.

Standard procedure is to have both semis and finals done within hours of each other, as they are a replica of what competitors would expect on the bigger stage.

“I saw the doctor after the race and he told me that my cramps were due to fatigue and also agreed that coming back that early for a final was not ideal,” he said.

Not taking the shine from winner Roland Levy, the 27-year-old McLeod admitted that conditions were same for all competing athletes and, while everyone reacts differently in the moment, he opted to run desipte his niggling challenges.

See McLeod’s statement in full below:

“Typically at our championships we always run semis and finals on the same day, but without any logical consideration for the athletes, we found out upon arrival that the schedule had changed last minute, where they pushed the finals to 8:00 am in the morning.

That really did not sit well with me but I was like hey, it’s the Olympic trials, so I guess we have no choice but to show up!

So on Saturday’s semis after being delayed for about an hour, I ran a very composed and easy 13.04[s], which is my second-fastest time this year. I tried not to overexert myself too much knowing that I had to come back early in the morning for the finals.

After the semis my team and I rushed up back to the hotel, got there around 10:00 pm, had to get a massage, eat dinner then tried to get some sleep to wake up at 5:00 am to get back on the track for the finals.

All athletes know that after races it’s usually very hard to fall asleep because we still have that [adrenaline] pumping, and in my case, I also had that added pressure of knowing I NEEDED to sleep in order to properly recover to give myself a shot at making my second Olympic team in hopes of defending my title.

So this morning, after barely getting four hours sleep, I showed up nonetheless with a positive attitude and ready to go! Had a great warmup, everything felt good, I was ready to run really fast!

They made the final call to the call room, and just like that, it was time to race! I walked out on the track, put my spikes on and [boom], the worst thing all us athletes dread so bad begun to happen. I started having severe cramps in my adductor and calves.

Immediately I called coach, told him what was happening and he quickly tried to ease my cramps. They (cramps) subsided a bit but I knew something still didn’t feel right.

He gave me a lil pep-talk and told me to go do my thing. I started setting in my blocks and my calves started cramping really bad again. In that moment, I seriously did not know what to do, I started panicking, praying hydrating, I mean I did everything I possibly could for it to go away. I asked myself ‘Should I run, should I not run?’, then I was like ‘If you don’t run then [you] don’t make the Olympic team’.

So much was going through my head that I just literally couldn’t figure out what was best for me to do.

Then I was like ‘Omar, you know what, FIGHT, show up, show effort, you’ve worked too hard and overcame too much for this opportunity’ and so I lined up, knowing in the back of my head that I was not able to give my BEST. But I showed HEART.

I saw the doctor after the race and he told me that my cramps were due to fatigue and also agreed that coming back that early for a final was not ideal. I am not oblivious of the fact that all us hurdlers had to deal with it but we all respond differently, and when I step on the track I am not there to just run a race, I am there to COMPETE HARD!

I do not know what will happen. But I am hoping and praying I get a chance to go defend that title. Love all.

One final thing, I really wish the same excitment and fair opportunity was given to us hurdlers, as it was given to all the sprinters for the 100m. They were able to run semis and finals on the same day. Our event is a lot more technical and it’s not a race [you] just wake up and freestyle after not recovering well. Just saying.”

Ronald Levy was crowned 110m hurdle champion after a thrilling, high-stakes race at the National Stadium in Kingston.

It was a close finish for the men’s 110m hurdles final, but Levy, Commonwealth champion, came out the victor clocking 13.10s to edge the win from Damion Thomas (13.11s) and Hansle Parchment(13.16s).

Defending Olympic champion Omar McLeod, by virtue of finishing eighth, will miss the Games in Tokyo, Japan.

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