Christian Coleman

College

At Tennessee, Coleman was the 60 meter champion and 200 meter runner up at the 2016 SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships. He then went on to win the 200 meter at the National Track and Field Indoor Championship and was 3rd in the 60 meter.^[6] He was the runner-up in both the 100 and 200 meter dash at the 2016 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships. After coming off an outstanding sophomore season, one that ended in making the 2016 Olympic team, he continued his success into his Junior season at Tennessee. During his indoor campaign he set PRs throughout the season resulting in world leading times in the 60 m and 200 m dash. Coleman took gold in both events at the 2017 Indoor National Track and Field Championships in historic fashion. He ran 6.45 s in the 60 tying the Collegiate record and 20.11 s in the 200, just 0.01 s off the collegiate record held by Wallace Spearmon. Christian finished his collegiate career by winning the 100m dash (10.04s) and the 200m (20.25s) at the 2017 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Coleman joins former Tennessee sprinter, Justin Gatlin, as the only other person to sweep the 60m and 200m indoor titles and the 100m and 200m outdoor titles.^[7]

Coleman received some notoriety after the 2017 NFL Draft scouting combine. John Ross set a new combine record of 4.22 seconds in the 40-yard dash and claimed he was faster than Olympic champion sprinter Usain Bolt. Coleman responded to this by running the 40 in 4.12 seconds on turf.^[8]

Professional

Coleman qualified for the 2016 Olympic Trials in the 100 and 200 meters. He placed sixth in the final of the 100 meter dash, potentially qualifying him for the 4x100 relay team.^[5] On July 11, Coleman was named to the US 4x100 relay team. At the Olympics, Coleman ran the second leg for Team USA in the 4x100 m relay qualifying as the team won their heat with a time of 37.65.^[9] The team that ran in the finals, without Coleman, was disqualified. In 2017, he claimed silver at the IAAF world championships, with a time of 9.94 seconds, behind Justin Gatlin and ahead of Usain Bolt in his final 100m race.^[10] He also ran the anchor leg for the US 4×100 m relay team at the championships, finishing second with a time of 37.52s, behind Great Britain (37.47s).

Coleman began his 2018 indoor season with a world record time of 6.37 seconds in the 60m at the Clemson Invitational in South Carolina, breaking Maurice Greene's near 20-year-old record by two one hundredths of a second.^[11] However, his time was not submitted for ratification as a world-record by USA Track & Field due to the event neither providing for electronic starting blocks, which measure reaction times in preventing false starts, nor a zero gun (AKA zero control) test, which checks that the automatic clock-timing system start and capture sequence are properly recorded.^[12] But, one month later, on February 18, 2018, at the United States Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Coleman clocked a world-record time of 6.34 seconds in the 60-meter final, thus breaking Maurice Greene's previously-held record. ^[13]

He went on to win the 60m world indoor title at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Birmingham, clocking a championship record (previously held by Maurice Greene) of 6.37s. The time is also the fastest time for indoor 60 m at sea level. It is his first gold medal at the major championships.^[14]

At the 2018 Diamond League finals in Brussels, Belgium, Coleman clocked a blistering 9.79 second run into a -0.3 wind during the Men's 100m Final, improving his personal best of 9.82s. This performance marked Coleman as the joint 7th best performer of all time (tied with Maurice Greene's 9.79) in the history of the event, as well as winning him his first Diamond League Trophy.The time was the fastest run over the previous three years^[15]