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XIAMEN: American Christian Coleman powered to victory in the men’s 100 metres race at the Xiamen Diamond League as the premier one-day series returned to China for the first time in four years on Saturday after Covid disruptions.
Coleman crossed the line in 9.83 seconds to draw huge roars at the Egret Stadium in Xiamen, which replaced Shenzhen and will continue to host one of the two Diamond League meetings in the Asian nation until 2032.
He was ahead of Jamaican Kishane Thompson who clocked 9.85 seconds for silver. American 2022 world champion Fred Kerley, who failed to qualify for the final at the Budapest world championships last month, took bronze in 9.96 seconds.
Italian Lamont Marcell Jacobs has barely raced since his Tokyo Olympics victory and finished seventh.
Coleman led from start to finish to equal Noah Lyles’ world-leading time in 2023 and said he was encouraged to respond following his fifth-placed finish at the worlds.
“It hurt a little bit but I knew what I was capable of doing and I knew what I was ready to do,” Coleman said, reflecting on his Budapest effort.
“Then my mind transitioned into the next opportunity for success. I knew coming here it would be a world class field and an opportunity for me to bounce back. I’m looking forward to the rest of the season.”
Yaroslava Mahuchikh was one of four recently-crowned world champions to win in China. The Ukrainian managed a best of 2.02m, a world lead and meet record, to win the women’s high jump.
Serbia’s Ivana Vuleta (6.88m), Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali (8:10.31) and Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic (49.36sec) made no mistake for victories in the women’s long jump, men’s 3000m steeplechase and women’s 400m respectively.
Other world champions fared less well.
Jamaican Hansle Parchment produced a superb performance to stun Grant Holloway in the men’s 110m hurdles to take gold in 12.96 seconds.
Holloway’s team-mate and fellow Budapest champion Laulauga Tausaga was third in the women’s discus throw won by Feng Bin on home soil, while Burkina Faso’s Hugues Fabrice Zango was runner-up in the men’s triple jump to Italy’s Andy Diaz Hernandez.
Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi pipped Canadian Marco Arop for the men’s 800m title in a reversal of their results in Budapest.
Earlier, 2012 Olympic champion Kirani James got the elite track events off to a thrilling start, as the Grenadian edged American Quincy Hall in a photo finish to bag the men’s 400m gold with a season’s best effort of 44.38 seconds.
Rushell Clayton led a Jamaican sweep of the podium in the women’s 400m hurdles, clocking 53.56 seconds to beat Andrenette Knight and Janieve Russell.
World cross-country champion Beatrice Chebet cruised to victory in the women’s 3,000m event with a world-leading time of eight minutes, 24.05 seconds, finishing ahead of Mexico’s Laura Galvan and fellow Kenyan Margaret Akidor.
Published in Dawn, September 3rd, 2023
