Carey Mcleod

McLeod, who just missed a medal at last year’s World Athletic Championships in Budapest, cut the sand at a new season’s best 8.21m. He placed behind Greece’s World Champion Miltiadis Tentoglou and Italy’s Mattia Furlani, who both leapt to a mark of 8.22m.

Another Jamaican, Tajay Gayle was sixth at 7.89m, while LaQuan Nairn of the Bahamas was 15th at 7.59m.

McLeod's medal is Jamaica's second at the Championship, adding to Ackeem Blake's bronze won in the men's 60m final on Friday.

On the track, St Lucia’s in-form sprinter Julien Alfred, Bahamian Anthonique Strachan, Barbadian Tristan Evelyn, as well as Jamaicans Briana Williams and Shashalee Forbes, all progressed to the women’s 60m semi-finals, after contrasting performances in their respective heats.

Alfred, 22, comfortably won her heat in 7.02s and headlines the qualifiers, as Strachan (7.24s), Williams (7.22s) and Forbes (7.17s), all placed second in their heats, while Evelyn (7.17s) was third in heat four.

Beyonce Defreitas (7.44s) of British Virgin Islands, and Trinidad and Tobago’s Michelle-Lee Ahye, despite a season’s best 7.26s, failed to progress, as both placed fifth in their heats.

The women’s 60m semi-final and final is scheduled for Saturday’s evening session.

Elsewhere on the track, Jamaica’s Damion Thomas and Tyler Mason, both failed to progress in the men’s 60m hurdles, after both placed sixth in their respective heats in 7.73s and 7.86s.

Jamaica’s Natoya Goule-Toppin also missed out on a spot in the women’s 800m final, following a sixth-place finish in her semi-final race. Goule-Toppin stopped the clock in 2:01.41.

Meanwhile, Ken Mullings of the Bahamas, started the men’s Heptathlon on a positive note, as he placed third in his heat of the 60m dash in a personal best 6.83s.

Mullings also registered a new lifetime best of 7.69m when he placed fifth in the long jump, and that was followed by a heave of 14.49m in the shot pot. By virtue of those performances, the 26-year-old currently occupies third position on 2684 points, behind Switzerland’s Simon Ehammer (2800 points) and Estonia’s Johannes Erm (2739 points).

They still have the high jump, 60m hurdles, pole vault and 1,000m to come.

 In the long jump competition, Carey McLeod soared to a season-best mark of 8.20m, securing victory against a highly competitive field. This remarkable feat came shortly after his training partner Wayne Pinnock set a world-leading mark of 8.34m in New Mexico just a couple of days prior. The talented field included Jacob Fincham Dukes of Great Britain, who claimed second place with an impressive 8.02m jump, and Juvaughn Harrison, a multi-talented jumper who secured third place with a leap of 7.87m.

 Akeem Blake, while not claiming the top spot in his event, delivered a lifetime-best performance in the men's 60m. In a tightly contested race, Blake finished second, crossing the line in an indoor lifetime best 6.45. The victory went to American superstar Noah Lyles, who clocked a lifetime-best time of 6.44 which was also a meet record and world-leading performance.

 In the women's 60m hurdles, the competition was intense and thrilling, featuring 2022 world champion Tobi Amusan, Devynne Charlton of the Bahamas, and Tia Jones of the USA. Tia Jones emerged victorious with a lifetime-best and world-leading time of 7.72, showcasing her sprinting prowess. Amusan lowered her national record set in Kazakhstan a week ago, finishing second with a time of 7.75. Charlton closely followed, just outside her own national record, securing third place with a time of 7.76.

 Olympic bronze medallist Megan Tapper also participated, finishing seventh with a season's best time of 8.02.

Lowe, with personal bests of 7.75m and 14.32m, for the long and triple jump, respectively, ranks among the best high school jumpers of the modern era in Jamaica. That talent attracted several suitors from NCAA Division-I schools before he finally settled on MSU.

“I’m very elated and happy to have received scholarship offers from multiple schools in the States, and being one of the first persons in my family to go to a university; that makes me overwhelmed,” he tells Sportsmax.TV.

“Mississippi State University was my preferred choice because we had a long talk about my future goals before the track season. The coach of MSU contacted me as soon as he heard about my accomplishments at Kingston College and then he saw some video clips of me. He told where I could be in the future and I was impressed by his response.”

Having decided where he wants to spend the next four years of his academic journey, Lowe reveals lofty goals for his NCAA career.

“I would like to be an NCAA champion, both indoor and outdoor, and set new records at MSU, and continue to make national teams for my country and make my family proud,” he said, explaining that his ambitions extend well beyond the boundaries of the NCAA.

“l would also like to be an Olympian while there, knowing I’m already a Youth Olympian and to win medals in both Olympics and World Championships.”

Lowe is likely to come against his former his KC teammate, Carey McLeod, who enjoyed an outstanding indoor season for the University of Tennessee in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) this past indoor season.

McLeod is the 2020 SEC Indoor long jump champion and the 2020 SEC Indoor triple jump silver medallist. He is also the 2020 USTFCCCA South Region Men's Field Athlete of the Year (Indoor), 2020 SEC Men's Field Athlete of the Year (Indoor), and was a member of the 2020 Indoor All-SEC First Team.

During their years together at Kingston College, Lowe and McLeod developed a bond of friendship, a bond that remains strong even though the latter has been at school in the USA.

No slouch himself, the Jamaica U20 long jump champion, said he looks forward to competing against his friend and former teammate.

“Carey McLeod, that’s my brother from another mother there. Well, the SEC is the most competitive conference in my opinion. Knowing that we went to the same high school and doing what he’s doing now in the SEC, I feel excited to compete against him,” said Lowe, who won the long jump silver medal at the 2019 ISSA Boys and Girls Championships.

“Carey taught me a lot while at Kingston College on how to train and how to be a leader, so I’m excited to be the underdog and I think I’m ready to face anyone in the SEC.

“The only place I’ve ever competed against him was in training because he’s three years ahead so now it’s all in the “big man league“ as they say, so I just have to work hard and try to improve every day.”

Incidentally, his contemporary at KC, Wayne Pinnock, will also be attending Tennessee.

Lowe said the only disappointing aspect of his impending collegiate career in the uncertainty around when he will actually depart for school given the COVID19 pandemic sweeping the globe.

“The pandemic virus has been a major setback for many athletes over the world not just in Jamaica. Whenever the Government opens the country I’ll leave for school when everything is cleared up because I have already sorted out everything,” he said.

“The pandemic has stopped my goals for the 2020 season but I’m glad that I got a scholarship secured and I’m looking forward to being in the NCAA and making a mark.”

Jamaica’s Pinnock had a consistent series with a best jump of 8.36m but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Greek from adding to his extensive list of global gold medals.

Tentoglu’s winning jump of 8.48m also came in the second round.

Italian 19-year-old Mattia Furlani produced 8.34m to take Italy’s first medal in the event in 40 years.

The other Jamaican in the final, Carey McLeod, didn’t have his best day with 7.82m to finish 12^th.

Pinnock and McLeod jumped 7.92 and 7.91, respectively, to finish as the top two ahead of Georgia’s Matthew Boling who jumped 7.86 for third.

St. Lucian Texas Junior and former St. Catherine High sprinter Julien Alfred turned heads in the Women’s 60m preliminaries with a personal best, collegiate and national record 7.04 to be the fastest qualifier to the final.

Jamaicans Charokee Young and Stacey-Ann Williams were the two fastest qualifiers in the Women’s 400m. Young, formerly of Hydel High and now competing for Texas A&M, advanced fastest with 51.70 while Williams, formerly of STETHS and now competing for The University of Texas, ran 51.89 to qualify second fastest.

The Arkansas sophomore, who transferred from Tennessee in the summer, only jumped twice in the competition producing 8.10m in the first round before achieving his personal best in round two.

The event was won by American Mississippi State senior Cameron Crump who achieved a personal best of his own with 8.39m, breaking US Olympian JuVaughn Harrison’s meet record 8.33m done in 2021.

Jamaican Arkansas senior Carey McLeod was third with 8.19m. McLeod produced distances of 8.09m, 8.19m and 8.17m in his series.

Pinnock’s distance puts him joint 32^nd all time on the indoor long jump list and second among Jamaicans with only James Beckford’s 8.40m done in Madrid in 1996 ahead of him.

Pinnock, 22, who has been in superb form this season, was just off his seasons and personal best of 8.37m. The Arkansas University athlete achieved the winning jump on his second attempt in a negative 0.4 metres per second wind reading.

That lead made things interesting, as it followed the 8.27m registered by 2019 World Championships gold medallist, Tajay Gayle, who had to settle for second place. Carey McLeod rounded off the top three spots, cutting the sand at 8.20m.

Meanwhile, Traves Smikle was crowned the men’s discus champion, following his fifth-round effort of 66.12 metres.

The event which took shape in terms of its competitive at the backend, saw Roje Stona finished second with an effort of 65.92m, which at one point, placed him in pole position. 

Five-time national champion and World Championships silver medallist, Fedrick Dacres, had to settle for third as his best effort was measured at 65.79 metres, well short of his personal best of 70.78m.

It is the first time ever that Jamaica will have three athletes in the long jump final at a global athletics championships.

It was one and done for Jamaica’s Pinnock and McLeod, while Gayle took his time to get going before hitting a reasonable mark to secure a spot in the final scheduled for Thursday at 12:30pm Jamaica time.

The 22-year-old Pinnock was poetry in motion where execution is concerned, as he was perfect off the board and that propelled him to a big world-leading mark of 8.54m in a positive 1.2 metres per second reading, which left him in shock.

“The first thing was just to execute as coach told me, push off on the first six steps, maintain my transition and then just run through the board which is what I did. But when I saw the distance, I was like ‘wow’, I wasn’t expecting that, but I’ve thought of this moment every night before I go to bed,” Pinnock said after his leap.

McLeod followed suit on his try, as he also cleared the automatic qualifying mark of 8.15m, cutting the sand at 8.19m in a positive 0.5m/s wind, on his first attempt.

Meanwhile, 2019 World Champion Gayle needed two jumps to find his rhythm, cutting the sand at 7.84m and 7.68m, respectively before leaping to 8.12m in a negative 0.7m/s wind, which was good enough to get him into the final.

Cuba’s Alejandro Parada (8.13m), will also line up in the medal event.

You can catch live action of the 2023 World Athletic Championships by downloading the Sportsmax App.

The 21-year-old former Kingston College star won the silver medal in the long jump with a personal best of 8.25m on Friday night and followed up Saturday with his personal best jump to win the triple jump. His 17.17m, was more than a half-metre better than second-place Christian Edwards of Alabama (16.64m).

Each mark is the third-best in the world this year and McLeod believes things are shaping up nicely for what he believes will be his first Olympic campaign.

“All my preparation is for the upcoming Olympic Games so it’s going to be special as we gear up for trials and the Olympics,” he said. “I’m a lot more technical and I am faster which I need down the runway.”

His improvement at Tennessee has been significant but he credits his time at Kingston College for providing him with the platform from which he now excels.

“Having the right foundation from high school to now has played a huge part in my development over these years and, of course, being a student of the events is key,” he said, still undecided about which event he favours.

“I can’t say which one I prefer because I love both just the same; the triple is just a little more fun than the long jump,” he said.

His world-class performances aside, McLeod said he is encouraged by the number of emerging young Jamaican jumpers.

Fellow Jamaican Ryan Brown, a junior at Arkansas, jumped 8.12 for third at the SECs while Virginia’s Owayne Owens jumped a season-best 16.48m to win the triple jump at the ACC Championships on the weekend.

Adding eight-metre jumpers, 2019 World Champion Tajay Gayle and Tennessee’s Wayne Pinnock to the mix, McLeod believes Jamaica is poised to do great things in the jumps in the future.

“We all are the younger generation coming up in the sport. We have goals of representing our country, so this is a very good look for the country as we could have multiple people on the podium,” he said.

“I can happily say we are on the rise to taking over in the jumps in the years to come.”

Thompson's sixth and final jump of 8.30m had initially placed him in a strong position. However, the jump was ruled a foul, and after being measured, the matter was sent to the jury of appeals. Following their deliberation, the jury decided to dismiss the appeal, thereby disqualifying Thompson's mark.

The ruling has altered the final standings of the competition. Carey McLeod's leap of 8.38m now secures him the first place, while Wayne Pinnock moves up to second with his jump of 8.27m. Tajay Gayle, the 2019 World Champion, who had initially missed out on a top-three finish, will now take third place with his jump of 8.13m.

The decision is a significant blow to Thompson, who had been eyeing a spot at the Paris Olympics. In contrast, it is a fortunate turn for Gayle, who has been one of Jamaica's top performers in the long jump and now gets another opportunity to showcase his talents on the world stage.

Pinnock and McLeod, both former Kingston College standouts, now competing for the University of Tennessee, jumped 7.93m and 7.63m, respectively, to advance. They were also the top two finishers at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Alabama in March with Pinnock jumping 7.92m for victory against McLeod's 7.91m.

Former Jamaica College and current Purdue jumper Safin Wills produced 15.89m to advance in the Men’s triple jump.

On the track, Jamaica’s Yanique Dayle and Antigua and Barbuda’s Joella Lloyd will both compete in the sprint double at the NCAA Championships after securing their spots.

Dayle, formerly of Hydel High and now competing for Ohio State, ran times of 11.24 in the 100m and 22.64 in the 200m while Lloyd, competing for Tennessee, ran the same time in the 100m and 23.01 in the 200m.

The Women’s 400m also saw two Caribbean competitors advance from the East Region with Bahamian Kentucky standout Megan Moss (52.07) and Bermudan UMBC athlete Caitlyn Bobb (52.40).

Trinidadian Olympian and Kentucky senior Dwight St. Hillaire ran 45.63 to advance in the Men’s equivalent.

Clemson senior Lafranz Campbell of Jamaica and Cayman's North Carolina A&T senior Rasheem Brown both ran 13.63 to advance in the Men’s sprint hurdles while another Jamaican Clemson representative, Trishauna Hemmings, ran 13.13 to advance in the Women’s 100m hurdles.

Barbadian and Tennessee sophomore Rasheeme Griffith and Jamaica and Kentucky senior Kenroy Williams ran 50.91 and 50.96, respectively, to progress in the Men’s 400m hurdles.

The 25-year-old specializes in the long jump but has also competed in the triple jump.

McLeod has personal bests of 8.34m in the long jump and 16.40m in the triple jump. Both those performances came in 2021.

Indoors, McLeod jumped a national record-equaling 8.40m on March 10 this year to win the NCAA Indoor title. That jump put McLeod in a tie with James Beckford for 20^th all-time indoors.

Last week, McLeod narrowly missed out on a medal in the long jump at the World Championships in Budapest.

The Arkansas man had a best jump of 8.27m, the same distance as countryman Tajay Gayle, but was beaten to the bronze medal on countback.

His professional debut came at Thursday’s Zurich Diamond League meet where he jumped 7.60m for ninth.