Carey McLeod rose to the occasion on Saturday at the Ed Murphey Classic in Memphis, Tennessee, claiming victory in the men’s long jump with a mark of 8.24m (+0.3 m/s). His win comes at a crucial time for Jamaican athletics, as the country continues to deal with the impact of several top athletes switching allegiance to Türkiye.

McLeod, who trains with Wayne Pinnock and Jaydon Hibbert, now finds himself as the standard-bearer for Jamaica in the horizontal jumps following their controversial decisions to transfer allegiance to Türkiye. While Pinnock and Hibbert prepare to represent their new country, McLeod has remained loyal to Jamaica and is now the leading figure carrying the nation's hopes into the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo this September.

The men’s long jump event featured a competitive field, with Americans Marquis Dendy (8.18m, +0.5 m/s) and Jeremiah Davis (8.11m, +0.6 m/s) rounding out the top three. Guyana’s Emanuel Archibald placed fifth with a jump of 7.99m (+1.1 m/s), just ahead of Jamaica’s Nikaoli Williams, who was sixth with 7.98m (+0.6 m/s).

Elsewhere in the field, Jamaica’s Roje Stona, who is already in possession of a Turkish passport, placed second in the men’s discus with a best throw of 64.01m. He was beaten only by American Reggie Jagers III, who won the event with 64.87m.

In the women’s long jump, Trinidad and Tobago’s Tyra Gittens produced another solid performance with a 6.71m effort (+3.0 m/s) to finish second behind Jasmine Akins of the United States (6.75m, +0.9 m/s). Gittens has been a model of consistency this season, following up on her recent win at the Barbados Grand Prix on July 5.

Meanwhile, in the men’s shot put, Jamaica’s Rajindra Campbell—who is also in the process of switching allegiance to Türkiye—finished fourth with a best mark of 21.59m. The event was won by Tripp Piperi of the United States with a throw of 21.88m.

Bahamian triple jumper Kaiwan Culmer was fourth in his event with a leap of 17.00m (+1.0 m/s), finishing just ahead of Bermuda’s Jah-Nhai Perinchief, who registered 16.95m (+1.3 m/s). The event was won by American Russell Robinson with 17.29m (+0.5 m/s).