by Larry EderIn a copyrighted story from Reuters, Christian Coleman, the current world record holder at 60 meters and the 2018 World Indoor Champion at 60 meters has been withdrawn from the Oslo Diamond League and Stockholm Diamond League by his manager, Emmanuel Hudson. Mr. Hudson cites this as a precautionary measure due to hamstring injury that has not completed healed.
Christian Coleman, Rome Golden Gala Press Conference, May 30, 2018, photo by PhotoRun.net
In the Reuters story, Christian Coleman injured his hamstring in workouts in April. Coleman pulled out of Shanghai as a precautionary measure. In Eugene, Coleman ran a wind-aided 9.84, to finish second to Ronnie Baker’s wind aided 9.78.
After his race in Eugene, Coleman noted to the media: “I felt pretty good, that was my season opener, so you know just take it from there and get better. I feel real good about it, just knocking the rust off, got a long season ahead of me, so I’m excited about it.”
In Rome, Christian Coleman and Ronnie Baker battled for much of the race, and, after 80 meters, Baker took the lead, winning in a legal 9.93, with Christian Coleman falling back to fourth. Jimmy Vicaut, the European record holder at 100 meters, took seocnd with Italy’s young star, Filippo Torto.
Tortu, Baker, Coleman (in pain), Rome DL 100 meters, May 31, 2018, photo by PhotoRun.net
We wish Christian Coleman a speedy recovery. The Reuters’ article also noted that Mr. Coleman is next scheduled to race at the Paris Diamond League Meeting on June 30.
How does the loss of a major star affect the meetings involved? The Diamond League is built around celebrating the rivalries of the sports’ stars. If the stars can not compete, should be be at the meet to meet with young fans and do media events? This is one of the major problems our sport has not grappled with, but comes up each time a major athlete is injured before a major event.
