Usain Bolt will be hoping to bring his storied athletics career to a close with IAAF World Championships gold in the 4×100 meters relay Saturday, but Christian Coleman is determined to spoil the farewell.
The Jamaican sprint king could manage only bronze in his final individual outing in the 100 meters last weekend, as longtime rival Justin Gatlin proved an unpopular winner ahead of Coleman in London.
Coleman, 21, will team up with United States teammate Gatlin to try to deny eight-time Olympic champion Bolt one last gold this weekend, and it is a challenge he is relishing.
Coleman told Omnisport: “I think we’re in contention to win, just like anybody.
“But we’ve got to make sure we come out and have our sticks right because it’ll be another competitive race just like the 100 was, but I’m definitely looking forward to the challenge.”
Regardless of the outcome in the relay, Coleman believes his silver medal in the 100 meters can provide a solid foundation on which to build a successful career. The Atlanta-born sprinter already has his eyes set on adding the 200 meters to his repertoire in Qatar in two years.
“I think my first World Championships, I handled it well. My goal, just like any other meet, was to come out and win. You shoot as high as you can but if you don’t end up there you can still end up accomplishing something great,” Coleman said.
“A lot of people were saying I didn’t really have the experience to compete at this level. Personally, I felt like experience doesn’t necessarily play a part in that, you’ve just got to come out here no matter what your age is and compete.
“That was my whole mindset and I had complete confidence in myself that I could come out and get a medal and be in contention to win and I used that mindset to just focus in and I got it done.
“I came to the world championships and got the silver medal, and I think it’s definitely the start of a great career.
“[Adding the 200 meters is] something I’m looking forward to. This year it wasn’t my year to take on that much of a load. It’s already been such a long year and I want to be ready to enjoy a long career, not just go all out there this year and not have anything left.
“So I’m definitely looking forward to that. My training will definitely be different and I’ll be ready to run the 100 and 200 in the next world championships for sure.”
