2023 Deji’s Doodles #8: Tebogo comes unstuck against Coleman, Richardson lays down the gauntlet in Miramar as Hobbs keeps running fast

Each week, Deji Ogeyingo writes Deji’s Doodles, his column on what fascinates him from the week that has just happened in athletics. 

Tebogo comes unstuck against Coleman, and Richardson lays down the gauntlet in Miramar as Hobbs keeps running fast.

It was a weekend of fast times and crazy winds. That didn’t stop us from witnessing elite racing in track and field this weekend. Letsile Tebogo and Christian Coleman slugged it out over the 200m at the Miramar Invitational, while Sha’Carri Richardson had one of those days that made fans sit on the edge of their seat as she ran a wind-aided 10.57s. Elsewhere Aleia Hobbs ran a world-leading time of 10.87s in the 100m.

Here are some of the talking points from last weekend’s action.

Letsile Tebogo needs to learn how to compete at the elite level.

One of the highlights at the Miramar Invitational in Florida last weekend, asides from the huge tail-wind, was the photo-finish between former 100m world champion Christian Coleman and world U20 record-holder Letsile Tebogo. Very rarely do we see such in the 200m. However, the race was keenly contested in that they were separated by 0.003s, with both athletes recording 20.00.

More to the nuances of the race itself, and the focus will be more on Tebogo. He has been touted as the next Usain Bolt after his exploits at the Junior level in which he taunted opponents as he breezed through his races. Now a full senior, the transition from precocious talent to professional superstar won’t be seamless. In fact, it will come at a price. And this race against Coleman highlights some of the areas Tebogo needs to work on.

The race showed his incredible sprinting ability and knack for chasing what is before him. Tebogo is used to being chased. But here, he had to learn to fight back when a race isn’t going in his favor. That’s how champions are made, and as an athlete, you have to maximize every aspect of training, management, and coaching to reach that level.

As usual, Coleman got off to a blistering start, and with most eyes on Kenny Bednarek, the Olympic and world silver medallist over the distance, Tebogo gradually pumped his way to within whiskers of a win in the last ten meters, but for a poorly timed dipped. Still, it speaks volumes of how he couldn’t take down Coleman, who struggles to top-end speed over the 200m. Over the 100m, can Tebogo now handle him?

No doubt, Tebogo will come good, but if he’s to reach Bolt’s level of success, he needs a massive revamp of the people that work with him behind the scenes. Bolt moved to Glen Mills when he couldn’t cut it at the top for a brief stint. Maybe it’s time for Tebogo to do so too.

Sha’ Carri Richardson makes a statement win, but can she be consistent?

You don’t run 10.72s and become the seventh fastest woman of all time, and there isn’t something special in you. These sorts of times are reserved for the very best of sprinters. But that’s the issue. Not many people think US sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson should be put in the same sentence as some of the elite sprinters.

At the Miramar Invitational, Richardson cooked up one of such results that made many fans of track drool at her prowess and how good she can be when things click together. Well, not so much, as she had a tailwind of 4.1m/s on her way to 10.57s, the fourth-fastest women’s 100m recorded in all conditions. The win itself is a confidence booster, but her consistency has always been the more pertinent question for her. That’s how world-class athletes are defined. Producing the results under high-octane pressure and when the stakes are high.

For now, she will take the win. Would it scare her opponents? Not really. It, however, serves as a laid-down gauntlet of what to expect as we head into the summer.

Aleia Hobbs is gradually creeping in on us.

The US hasn’t really produced any stand-out sprinter to challenge the might of the Jamaicans in the last couple of years. Despite the pool of talents that comes through the Collegiate system every year, it’s rather strange that no single female sprinter has been able to bring a global sprint title since Tori Bowie in 2017.

Richardson was meant to buck that trend but has been largely inconsistent. One athlete that can take a bite at the cherry this year is Aleia Hobbs. The American opened her 2023 outdoor campaign on Saturday at the Lloyd Wills Invitational in Baton Rouge with a World-leading 100m. The Olympic 4x100m silver medalist won her 100m heat at the Lloyd Wills Invitational in Baton Rouge with a blazing 10.87 (2.0m/s), beating her teammate Candace Hill into second.

Perhaps more intriguing is her dominance level when she executes her races. It oozes class, and for a sprinter who topped the indoor 60m season with 6.94s and placed sixth in Oregon last year, it’s safe to say Hobbs will be a challenger this year. At 27, she hasn’t really cut it at the top, but every athlete comes of age at some point. There is no doubt Hobbs will take this year.

Oblique Seville has his work cut out if he’s to become the first Jamaican World Champion since 2015

For a county that prides itself as the home of sprinting, it is rather strange that Jamaica has produced a male world champion in the 100m since Usain Bolt won the title in 2015. Like the American ladies, there have been a few threats here and there but nothing concrete. However, it wasn’t until last year we began to take note of a certain Oblique Seville.

Seville wasn’t your teenage sensation like most Jamaican stars that have gone on to win laurels for their nation, but the fact that Glen Mills took him under his wings a few years back speaks volumes about his talents and how far he can go in the sport.

Over the weekend, Seville blazed to a win-aided 9.91s to win the men’s 100m at the Miramar Invitational. The time isn’t one to make you get off the edge of your seat, but a deeper look at the performance from Seville can unlock a few things as we head into the summer.

First off, the challenge from the Americans will get tougher this year. Less we forget Seville narrowly missed out on a podium finish when he placed fourth in Oregon. The ideal thing is he should take it a step forward by winning a medal for the Island nation in Budapest. If that is to happen, then he needs to find a way of running 9.8s consistently.

Seville has only run under 9.9s twice in his career, and with the sort of promise he showed last year, things can only get better. There however is no denying that he has got his work cut out for him.