By Chinthana Wasala -THE PENINSULA
The 100 metres battle at the Doha World Championships will be a mouthwatering affair.
Spectators at the air-conditioned Khalifa International Stadium this afternoon will have an initial glimpse at the next fastest man at the Worlds with 18 of today’s starters having personal bests of below 10-seconds.
Ever since the retirement of World record holder and the championship record holder Jamaican speedster Usain Bolt, the world is yet to embrace a true sprint king with a number of athletes stealing the limelight in the past two years. American Justin Gatlin beat Bolt two years ago at the London Worlds, but the silver medal hero at the same event Christian Coleman has emerged as the top favourite to clinch the gold in Doha.
Coleman will aim for a 100-200 double, but his fellow American teammate has proved himself to be the man to beat in the half-lap event.
Coleman, 23, has notched up pretty impressive timings of 9.86, 9.85 and 9.81 in three successive races earlier this year and topped up with the US title which he won in July with a 9.99 mark.
Gatlin who has gone under 10 seconds on four occasions this season with a best of 9.87 in Stanford in late June.
The 37-year old has run in more finals than any of the top favourites.
The the two-time 100m world champion will surely offer a stiff resistance to Coleman at the Doha track and will be looking to make his presence felt when the preliminary rounds start this afternoon.
Gatlin is not the only world champion who will be seen in action today.
Jamaican Yohan Blake, the 2011 winner, will also aim to take his famous former team-mate’s legacy forward with a win in Doha.
Jamaican flag has never missed a 100m podium at the World Championships for the last 12 years and Blake – the ardent cricket fan, with a personal best of 9.69, will be keen to make his second podium at the premier athletics competition.
The second fastest in the list is Divine Oduduru of Nigeria. The 22-year-old is also in brilliant form, winning the NCAA title in 9.86. South African Akani Simbine, the reigning African champion who narrowly missed the podium spots at both the 2016 Olympic Games and 2017 World Championships, Zharnel Hughes, the European champion, Canadian Aaron Brown.
Be the first to comment