DEVONSHIRE, BERMUDA, May 21 — Although the gusts of restless island air at the USATF Bermuda GP blew favorably down the homestraight and jumps runway (unlike in the headwind-fest ’22 edition), big numbers on the wind gauges were a constant. Yet the competitions were compelling.
None more so than the men’s 100 showdown between ’19 dash world champions Christian Coleman and Noah Lyles. Was 2-time century No. 1 Coleman — World Ranked No. 5 last year — back to the sharpness needed to outrun 3-time 200 top ranker Lyles who now has the 100 in his sights?
The answer: yes — even as a tight finish heightened drama for future meetings. Coleman started in lane 4 and with a 4×1 leadoff sprint in his legs about 75 minutes earlier. Lyles started fresh to his right in corridor 5.
At the crack of the gun, vaunted starter Coleman raced true to form. He led reaction times at 0.133 with Lyles =No. 4 at 0.154. Not that reaction times tell as much as the first few steps in a sprint. Coleman prevailed there too. With 20m down he had a clear led, with Ackeem Blake and returned-from-injury Terrance Laird also out well.
Lyles raced in 4th but with ground-eating form rushed past Laird and then Blake around 70m. At 90 he had shrunk Coleman’s margin to a foot-and-a-half. From there giant strides and a perfectly timed lean nearly sealed the deal.
Coleman strode upright and seemed to shut it down in his last pair of steps. Still he crossed in front, 9.78–9.80. The wind had its say, juking the gauge all the way to 4.4mps. No matter. A win’s a win and Coleman leapt skyward to celebrate as he decelerated around the bend.
“I just knew I just had to get out and try to maintain my form,” he told NBC’s Lewis Johnson. “I feel like I executed pretty well. I have to just go back and watch the film, clean it up and get ready for the next race.”
Asked about the near certainty Lyles would close like a house afire, Coleman added, “I mean, it’s a cliché but just stay in my lane. You know, just execute everything that me and my coach [Tim Hall] work on, execute my phases. And I knew I’d be hard to beat if I do that.”
As for his chances in what promises to be an intense USATF comp, Coleman —defending champ Wild Card qualifier to the ’22 Worlds and 6th-place finisher there — low-keyed, “I think I got a good…
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