World Indoor Champs — Men’s Track

If you’re talking pre-meet publicity, no question, Noah Lyles smacked Christian Coleman around. However, the epic showdown between the two rivals in the 60 final played out quite differently, as Coleman ran away from Lyles to snatch the gold in a world-leading 6.41.

The rounds only amped up the anticipation. In the first heat, Lyles cruised 6.57. Then Coleman made a powerful statement with an eased-up 6.49. In the semis, Coleman kept the pressure up, tying Lyles’ world leader 6.43 in the first. Jamaican Ackeem Blake won the next at 6.51. In the third, Lyles clocked 6.47.

The final came less than two hours later: Coleman in 4, Lyles 5, Blake 6. The styles of the Americans couldn’t have shown more contrast. Lyles exploded in high leaps, and performed his trademark shout to the rafters, much to the delight of the crowd. Coleman stayed quiet, and said a quick prayer.

Coleman’s brilliant start began with a reaction time of 0.127, the fastest, while Lyles at 0.159 ranked seventh. Coleman tore away like no one else can, yet Lyles had indeed caught a good start by his own standards.

The two men drove forward and raised their gazes toward the finish and it soon became clear that Lyles would not be able to run down Coleman. At best he clawed back a few inches, but the 27-year-old Coleman had a gear that he couldn’t find in Albuquerque when Lyles had pipped him for the USATF title. He claimed the gold, his ensuing celebration much more subdued than if the places had been reversed.

Lyles earned silver in 6.44, just ahead of Blake’s 6.46, with Kenyan Ferdinand Omanyala the best of the rest at 6.56.

“I had a lot of confidence in myself coming in,” said Coleman, who also won in ’18. “I set my mind on letting my body do what I have been doing in practice and I came out with a win.”

Lyles called himself happy, saying, “The 60m is not my favorite race but now you can’t say I’m not one of the greats in it.” /Jeff Hollobaugh/

RESULTS

FINAL (March 01)

1. Christian Coleman (US) 6.41 (WL) (x, =9 W, A);

2. Noah Lyles (US) 6.44;

3. Ackeem Blake (Jam) 6.46;

4. Ferdinand Omanyala (Ken) 6.56;

5. Henrik Larsson (Swe) 6.56;

6. Emmanuel Eseme (Cam) 6.68;

7. Shuhei Tada (Jpn) 6.70;

8. Chituru Ali (Ita) 8.00.

(lanes: 1. Tada; 2. Ali; 3. Eseme; 4. Coleman; 4. Lyles; 6….