Omar McLeod is the 2016 World Indoor Champion and the 2016 Olympic champion. This year, he has run 13.09 for the world lead, and is being coached by Edrick Floreal, the head track coach at the University of Kentucky. His move to Coach Floreal (who also coaches Keni Harrison, the WR 100m hurdler and soon, will be coaching Sydney McLaughlin, the high school 400m hurdle phenom), is recent.
Omar McLeod, Olympic Champion, World Indoor Champion, photo by PhotoRun.net
Omar McLeod was quite confident in the interview at the the Paris DL meeting. He told the assembled media that he was loving his event again, which he attributed to Coach Floreal!
Here’s Omar’s quote: « I’m in a good shape, that’s obvious. I’ve just got a new PB (12.90). I’m fast, faster than ever. This season, I have to confess that WR is in my mind. I hope to be able to beat it before the end of the season. But I don’t want to target it at each event. I don’t need this kind of pressure. The reason I improved so much this season is my new coach. I switched coaches, now I train in Lexington, Kentucky, with Edrick Floreal, Kendra Harrison’s coach. He gave me back the love of hurdles. Most important, I changed my technique. »