Justin Gatlin stormed to victory in the 100m at the US world championship trials on Friday, upstaging rising star Christian Coleman and setting up the prospect of one final duel with Usain Bolt.
The 35-year-old Gatlin turned on the gas in the final 20 metres at Sacramento’s Hornet Stadium to reel in Coleman for a convincing win in 9.95sec.
Coleman, 21, had been tipped as the likeliest US rival to Bolt at August’s World Championships after clocking the fastest time in the world this year, a blistering 9.82sec. But Coleman — who hours earlier had inked a seven-figure sponsorship deal with Nike — was put firmly in his place by the veteran Gatlin, finishing in 9.98sec. Christopher Belcher was third in 10.06sec. Asked if he felt Gatlin still ‘had it’, Coleman replied: “He never lost it!”
Gatlin meanwhile was left delighted after clinching his ticket to London — and another potential showdown with Bolt. “It feels great,” said Gatlin, who has registered only one victory over Bolt in his career.
In the women’s 100m, Tori Bowie swept to a comfortable win in 10.94 ahead of Deajah Stevens and Ariana Washington. Allyson Felix, the reigning world 400m champion, finished in last place.
Meanwhile in the men’s triple jump, reigning Olympic and world champion Christian Taylor — who only needed to turn up in Sacramento this week to cash in a wildcard place — intentionally fouled on his only leap of the competition. In the women’s high jump, teenager Vashti Cunningham, the world indoor champion and daughter of former NFL star Randall Cunningham, posted a jump of 1.99m to win and clinch her place in London.
In the opening heats of the women’s 100m hurdles, world record holder Keni Harrison impressed with 12.54sec, the fastest time in the world this season. The 24-year-old is desperate to make up for the bitter disappointment of last year, when she missed out on the Olympics after finishing sixth at the trials in Oregon.

Thompson, Blake win 100m at Jamaican championships
Elaine Thompson lowered her world-leading time in the 100 meters at the Jamaican Track and Field Championships on Friday, while former world champ Yohan Blake roared to his fastest time in five years.
Thompson clocked a 10.71 seconds to win the women’s 100m and Blake did likewise in the men’s 100m with a blazing time of 9.90 seconds. On a cool evening at Kingston’s iconic National Stadium, the two provided the star power with the absence of Jamaican Olympic heroes Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. Blake is making a comeback after several years on the sidelines with injuries. His time was his fastest since 2012 when he ran 9.69 seconds in Lausanne.
Julian Forte was second in 10.04 seconds after running a career best 9.99 seconds in the semi-finals, while Senoj-Jay Givans booked his first spot on a senior national team by placing third in 10.05 seconds.

World record for paralympic star Leeper
Paralympic athlete Blake Leeper broke Oscar Pistorius’s record for the T43 400 meters at the US world championship trials on Friday. Leeper, a 27-year-old born without lower legs, competed in the men’s 400m semi-finals wearing carbon fibre prosthetic blades, finishing seventh in 45.25sec.
Although the time was not good enough to advance him to final, it saw Leeper smash jailed South African ‘blade runner’ Pistorius’s mark of 45.39 set in Daegu, South Korea in August 2011.
Leeper claimed a silver medal behind Pistorius in the T43 400m final at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London.
Pistorius is serving a six-year jail term for murdering his girlfriend in South Africa in 2013.