US sprint star Christian Coleman takes first place in 100-metres after returning from a ban for breaching anti-doping rules. He clocked a “pretty decent” 10.09sec in his Tokyo debut on Sunday.
The reigning 100m world champion returned to his sport in January, 18-months after the suspension for failing to adhere to whereabouts requirements.
He finally hit the track for his first 100m race in Japan on Sunday. He felt pretty good about how he performed overall.
Coleman said that he felt excited to have participated in a race and came out with a pretty decent time, his first of the season. Building off that opportunity is what he is looking forward to.
Two runners finished in the top three in 10.22 seconds; Yuki Koike, from Japan, and Rohan Browning from Australia.
A 100m season best is 9.85 seconds and Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala set it on Saturday in Nairobi.
Fans were barred from the Olympic athletics events over Covid-19 concerns, but spectators were able to watch from the stadium’s lower stands on Sunday.
“Competing in the Olympic Stadium is always exciting,” said Coleman, who in March took silver in the 60m at the World Indoor Championships.
American athlete, Rai Benjamin, took silver in the 400m hurdles with a time of 46.17sec.
On Sunday, he came first in the same event, clocking in at 48.60sec.
He said, “Time was slow, I’ll say that much, but it felt really good to be back out there.”
Michael Norman, a US runner, won the men’s 400m but said he was not happy with his time because it was over a 44 seconds.
