“It felt great.” That’s all that you could get out of American sprinter Christian Coleman right after he ran the only sub-10 second time of the day in the men’s 100m heats on the first day of the IAAF World Championships Doha 2019 yesterday.
The 23-year-old had run the fastest time this season, a blistering 9.81 seconds at the Prefontaine Classic in Palo Alto, California, in June.
Even as he registered four more sub-10 second times this season, Coleman’s participation at the Worlds had been under a cloud after it emerged that he had missed three doping tests.
Even his participation in Tokyo next year was thrown in doubt given that he could have been banned for a year if the case went against him. However, two days before his hearing earlier this month, the US Anti Doping Agency (USADA) withdrew the charges.
And here he was at the air-conditioned Khalifa International Stadium yesterday.
He won the sixth and final heat of the blue riband event with ease, topping the time charts with a 9.98-second run.
The heats started with African champion Akane Simbine winning in a fine time of 10.01 seconds ahead of Canadian Aaron Brown in 10.16 seconds.
American Justin Gatlin was back in the city where he ran a personal best of 9.74 seconds four years ago in the Doha Diamond League. And not even a minor hamstring injury he sustained a few weeks ago in Zagreb could stop the defending World champion from throwing in his hat at a time when there has been a lot of noise around the young blood in the post-Usain Bolt era.
The 37-year-old won the second heat in 10.06 seconds ahead of Canadian Andre de Grasse in 10.13 seconds.
“It feels great to be back in Doha. I have a lot of history here,” Gatlin said after his heat.
“I wanted to come back and be healthy. I had an injury two weeks ago, so I am happy to run my first race healthy and be dominant. I want to go home, rest and get ready for the next round.
“Moving forward, I just want to stay focused on my race and execute each phase and be able to come out on top.”
Praising the hosts, he said, “The Qataris are very impressive with all their technology. They take pride in what they do. The technology is world class and cutting edge for both the athletes and the spectators.”
Jamaican Yohan Blake won the fourth heat in 10.07 seconds just about edging out Frenchman Jimmy Vicaut (10.08) at the finish line.
“Things have been going good. I didn’t get the best start but I came through. I feel pretty good with myself knowing that I can stay tall and run from behind,” Blake said after his narrow win.
Nigerian Divine Oduduru, the second fastest man in the field this season, did not start his heat, which was won by Brazilian Paulo Andre Camilo de Oliviera in 10.11 seconds.
“I am happy to be here, with my race but I want more. I want to run well the semifinals and reach my goal of running the final,” the silver medallist from the Pan-American Games earlier this year said.
“Doha is good and the atmosphere has been great. We also want to defend out relay gold from the World Relays in Japan. The team is ready.”
The semi-final will be at 6:45pm today, with the final scheduled for 10:15pm.
(L-R) Japan’s Abdul Hakim Sani Brown, USA’s Christian Coleman and Brazil’s Rodrigo Do Nascimento compete in the 100m heats in the 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships at the Khalifa International stadium in Doha yesterday.
