Former Vol track star Christian Coleman made headlines when he broke an NCAA record for the fastest 100-meter time ever back in May. Now he’s making headlines once again over in London.
Coleman raced against famous Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt in the semifinals of the 100-meter race at the IAAF World Championships in London, England on Saturday, and Coleman barely edged out the Jamaican star. Coleman finished the sprint in 9.97 seconds, finishing ahead of Bolt by a mere .01 of a second.
Bolt was on an impressive run before his defeat at the hands of Coleman. Bolt had won 45 straight races counting preliminaries and finals dating back to 2013. Coleman snapped that streak.
The finals race will be held later today at approximately 4:45 PM Easter time. Bolt will have a chance for revenge in that race, but Coleman won’t make it easy for him.
Coleman is quickly becoming one of the next great track stars in the world. At this pace, he should be representing the United States at the next Olympic Games in 2020.
Coleman elected to turn pro this summer rather than return to Tennessee for his senior season. He swept the NCAA 60 and 200-meters indoor and 100 and 200-meters outdoor this season, becoming the first Vol to do so since Justin Gatlin in 2002.
