Christian Coleman .18sec off Usain Bolt’s 100m world record
The athletics world looks to have finally found Usain Bolt’s sprint successor with a 23-year-old blitzing the field to win the 100m final in Doha - but the victory was not without controversy.
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Christian Coleman has put his hand up to be the Usain Bolt’s successor with a demolition job in the world championships 100m final.
Coleman was second two years ago in Bolt’s final race in London but reversed that result in emphatic fashion clocking 9.76sec to win his first world title.
Defending champion Justin Gatlin finished second (9.89sec) with Canada’s Andre De Grasse third in a personal best 9.90sec.
🥇 Gold 100 M @__coleman#IAAFDoha2019 #DohaWorldChampionships #Doha2019 pic.twitter.com/5omS7eYO2v
— khalid (@KhalidElGendi) September 28, 2019
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There was a disappointing undertone to the victory given Coleman has been at the centre of a drugs scandal coming into Doha.
The world indoor champion was in danger of missing the world championships after missing three drugs tests in a 12-month span which normally triggers a two-year ban.
But Coleman got off on a technicality which allowed him to backdate his first whereabouts failure before the 12-month window.
The 23-year-old claimed his innocence but it certainly overshadowed the lead-up and even in victory the stigma will remain.
Since Bolt’s retirement at the 2017 world championships in London, the athletics world has been waiting to see who would take the baton as the world’s fastest man.
Coleman set the marker early in 2019 notching 9.86sec, 9.85sec and 9.81sec performances in three successive early season races before taking the US title in 9.99sec in late July.
Gatlin, who has previously served a four-year drug ban, continues to raise eyebrows with another medal in the 100m at the age of 37.
There was a major upset in the men’s long jump with Jamaica’s Tajay Gale taking the world title with a stunning leap of 8.69m which was a whopping 37cm personal best.
Gale, 23, set the tone for the high-class competition when he dropped 8.46m with his first jump to put the pressure immediately on favourite Cuba’s Juan Miguel Echevarria.
Echevarria, the Diamond League champion who jumped 8.65m in Zurich, couldn’t respond and had to settle for bronze with a best effort of 8.34m.
America’s Rio Olympic champion Jeff Henderson took the silver medal with 8.39m.
Originally published as Christian Coleman .18sec off Usain Bolt’s 100m world record