• Controversy: An unsportsmanlike tactic defeats Orlando Ortega: "My medal has been stolen"

At the end of the 110 meters hurdles of the World Cup, still on the tartan, where the stretch of the Doha Khalifa Stadium ends, there was a curious scene: Orlando Ortega still shaking his head, repeating "no, no, no, no "and five meters from him, the Jamaican Omar McLeod without knowing very well where to get. With the Spaniard in front of the catwalk that gave access to the mixed zone, his executioner necessarily had to pass in front to be able to leave and, aware of this, he waited and waited. McLeod spent two or three minutes there, watching Ortega lament, until he decided to leave the track and, at a safe distance, the Jamaican followed in his footsteps. Then, asked about the elbow of misfortune, it took time to apologize and blamed what happened to his own body.

"When I passed the first fence I felt pain in the hamstrings and I spent the whole race thinking about that, without attending my technique. In the middle of the test I went back to pulling, but I also finished, I gave it my all ," McLeod said in his first season, in which then, so fierce, he dedicated himself to valuing his season and the success that it meant for him to compete in the World Cup final. "This year I have made many sacrifices to get here. Right now I am in a new situation with a new coach. Today I have shown that I was prepared and I had the heart to try to reach the goal. Now I just need to rebuild and come back strong next year. for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, "he said although later, specifically asked about Ortega, he did apologize and admitted that he should have retired earlier.

The fact is that it was not the first that McLeod invaded the lane of an opponent and even threw it to the ground. This same year, at the meeting of the Diamond League in Rabat the Jamaican placed himself in the path of Russian Sergey Shubenkov and ended up stumbling before reaching the finish line. At that time, the Russian denounced in social networks the way McLeod acts and Ortega appeared to prove him right.

"The saddest thing is that they are not disqualified or penalized [also referring to the Jamaican Ronald Levy , with the same technique]. Some athletes unfortunately do not have a good technique with their arms, invade the opposite streets and if you go behind, you do not see nothing. I've had that experience many times with McLeod, this year in Madrid and, I repeat, the saddest thing is that in fundamental championships they don't disqualify despite having cameras on all sides, "the hurdler on Twitter reasoned on September 9 .

The two hurdlers, McLeod and Ortega are intimate enemies since the Jamaican became professional in 2015 and the following year Ortega became nationalized Spanish and returned to the tracks. In the 2016 Rio Olympics they were first and second and in many, many Diamond League meetings shared those same positions. Unlike most Jamaican sprinters, McLeod studied in the United States, at the University of Arkansas, and there lives, now under the command of Rana Raider in Jacksonville, Florida.

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