McLeod tearful after 4th straight victory at Shanghai

McLeod tearful after 4th straight victory at Shanghai

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 7:52 p.m. ET

SHANGHAI (AP) — Olympic champion Omar McLeod made it four straight victories in the 110-meter hurdles at the Shanghai Diamond League on Saturday.

McLeod couldn't hold back the tears after finishing in 13.12 seconds. The 25-year-old Jamaican had tweeted that he was "numb" after learning of his aunt's death 24 hours before the race.

After a strong start, McLeod established an early lead and, despite being put under pressure in the middle section by China's Wenjun Xie, kept his cool over the last three hurdles to win.

McLeod won at Shanghai in 2016 before going on to take gold at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

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Qatar's Abderrahman Samba timed 47.27 in the 400 hurdles to leave American Rai Benjamin second in 47.80. Benjamin emerged onto the straight with a lead but labored over the penultimate barrier that allowed Samba to move up alongside him and then pull away.

American Aleia Hobbs won the women's 100 in 11.03 despite running with a broken wrist. Blessing Okagbare finished second in 11.07 with Olympic champion Elaine Thompson third in 11.14.

Fred Kerley charged out of the blocks and held onto a huge lead in the 400 to finish in 44.81. Michael Cherry never looked to threaten Kerley's brilliant run and clocked 45.48 while Nathan Strother made it a 1-2-3 for the United States.

In an absorbing 100 meters, Noah Lyles picked up remarkably in the last 40 meters to win with a personal best and world-leading 9.86.

Christian Coleman, who started off impressively and looked as if he would go all the way after 50 meters, got the same time but lost on a photo decision.

Yomif Kejelcha clocked the year's fastest time in the 5,000 when he won in 13:04.16. ahead of fellow Ethiopian Selemon Barega in 13:04.71.

American Chase Ealey recorded an upset in the shot put on her debut at the Diamond League when she beat local favorite Gong Lijiao with a 19.58-meter throw in the second round.

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