Omar McLeod nominated for IAAF Male Athlete otY award5 min read

Reigning 110m hurdles World Champion Omar McLeod is the only Jamaican who has been nominated for the 2017 International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Male Athlete of the Year award.

The 23-year-old student won the men’s 110m hurdles Diamond League race in Shanghai, China in 13.09 seconds then in Eugene, Oregon, clocking 13.01 seconds in May this year. He finished seventh in the men’s 100m hurdles final at the Paris Diamond League meeting in July in a time of 13.41, after earlier clocking 13.13 in Heat Two.

Other male nominees for the prize are Britain’s Mo Farah; Americans Christian Taylor and Sam Kendricks; Kenya’s Elijah Manangoi; South Africans Wayde van Niekerk; just to name a few.

Track and field coach and analyst David Riley stated that the list provides a good blend of the best athletes this season as among the line up you You have the best long jumper, the best triple jumper, the best pole vaulter, the best middle distance and long distance athlete, and the best hurdler.

Jamaicans who have won the IAAF Male Athlete of the Year Award include Usain Bolt who won the award a record six times in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2016. Former 100m world record holder Asafa Powell also won the award in 2006.

No Jamaican made the list of female nominees, with the 10 including the 2016 Female Athlete of the Year Almaz Ayana of Ethiopia.

The other nominees include Olympic sprint hurdles champion and 2011 female winner, Sally Pearson of Australia; reigning World 800m champion and 1500m bronze medallist Caster Semenya of South Africa; and American Brittney Reese; among others.

The finalists will be determined through a three-way voting process involving the IAAF Council, the IAAF Family, and track and field fans and Fans may vote online via the IAAF’s social media platforms. The IAAF Council’s vote will count for 50 per cent of the result, with the IAAF Family and public votes accounting for 25 per cent each. Voting closes on October 16 when the three finalists will be announced. The winners will be named at the World Athletes of the Year Gala in Monaco onNovember 24.