LONDON, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Olympic champion Omar McLeod of Jamaica beat defending champion Sergey Shubenkov of Russia to win the men's 110 meters hurdles title at the World Athletics Championships here on Monday.
McLeod clocked 13.04 seconds to rank first among eight finalists. Shubenkov took silver in 13.14 and the bronze medal went to Balazs Baji of Hungary, who finished the race in 13.28 seconds.
McLeod, who was sixth two years ago in Beijing, was excited to win back some glory for Jamaica after Usain Bolt and Elaine Thompson, the men's and women's Olympic 100m champions, failed to win in their events.
"This one is special, honestly," he said. "There was a lot of pressure coming in but I channelled it positively. It's totally different to last year (at Rio) where we had Usain and Elaine winning, which I used to propel me. I didn't have that this time so I really wanted to come out and shine my own light."
Shubenkov, competing as an athorised neutral athlete, said, "I'm so frustrated. I struggled over the last few hurdles but I was leading for the first half so that is the frustration.
"The Jamaican is just too fast. I'm just happy to be competing at a world champs and get a world medal. Last year was a disaster and not just because of the Russian ban (on competing at the Olympics) so I'm happy to be back winning a world medal."
Aries Merritt, the Olympic champion in 2012, finished fifth in 13.31.
Merritt, who holds the world record of 12.80 seconds, said, "It feels great to be back in London where I won Olympic gold. The crowd greeted me very warmly. Of course, I am not happy to be in lane nine but just being in the stadium is enough for me.
"I am not even meant to be running, so I'm more happy to be here than not be here. I am back on the world stage, that's the main thing.
"I'm not in any pain, I just didn't execute tonight. But it's definitely possible for me to medal in the future. Everyone in the hurdling game is hurdling well. Since I broke the world record it's really transformed. There are a lot of new people and new talent, and that's fine. I'm just happy still to be part of it."
