In Appreciation of Christian Coleman

I know I stated this blog was dedicated to covering solely UH track and field, but there are things I've wanted to say and I have no other medium in which to publish it.

I first learned of Tennessee's Christian Coleman when I went to interview Leroy Burrell for a feature about how Cameron Burrell had the countries fastest 60m time.

It was then Coach Burrell informed me that actually Coleman had the top time. That day I learned how fast news changes in the track and field world. But I didn't think anything of it. I had seen what Burrell did the season prior, running 6.48s in the NCAA final and losing. I thought if he could run anything close to that time then he would be an NCAA champion.

And for most of the season I had no reason to think otherwise. Burrell's time kept improving as the meets progressed. Coleman still had the top time at 6.51s, but I thought that was just one race he had run and that he wouldn't match it at the final.

As the championship meet was at Texas A&M this year I was able to attend as opposed to last season. Both Burrell and Coleman ran in the same semifinal heat. It was the first time I got to see them race each other, even though they were two lanes apart. Burrell ran 6.52 that day. Coleman ran 6.50.

Needless to say I was impressed. I saw this stocky kid from Tennessee live up to the hype and qualify for the final with the top time. In between the semi's and the final I read up on Coleman, learned he had finished third last year, won the indoor 200 and had gone to the Rio Olympics on the relay team. I started to understand this wasn't some upstart, this was a motivated man who had goals in mind.

But I still believed Burrell was going to win. I know I'm biased but I had watched him all year and knew he was capable of doing so. I even heard members of the FloTrack team predicting the time Burrell would run to win.

I remember going to the ground floor to film the race for my growing twitter followers. I could feel both tension and excitement around the stadium as the main event was about to take place.

And then it happened. 6.45s. That's all it took for Christian Coleman to be crowned 60m national champion. I could not get the image of a hunched over Burrell staring at the time out of my head. We had all witnessed history and no one could really believe their eyes.

But if anyone had thoughts of it being a fluke, their thoughts were quickly dashed as Coleman won the 200m in dominating display, running 20.11s. In the space of an hour, and in between one of Fred Kerley's countless 400m victories this season, Coleman had broke one NCAA record and tied another on his way to becoming a dual champion.

And from that point on the two sprinters seasons seemed to drift in different directions.

Coleman continued to set the top times for both the 100m and 200m during the outdoor season. He set Tennessee and SEC records for both events and was knocking on the door of the NCAA record.

Meanwhile Burrell struggled, never running faster than 10.26s. I later learned that this was due to a foot injury. It looked like the relay team had a legitimate chance to win a national title, but junior Eli Hall-Thompson had the most realistic chance to win individually.

Hall-Thompson had top times in the 100m, the top 200m time (19.96s), had won the Penn Relays 100m, was running the anchor leg for the No. 2 relay team and had been named the AAC Track Athlete of the Meet at the conference championships after he won both sprints and both relay races. He was a man on the rise and it looked like he would have his own date with Coleman at nationals.

But then the strangest thing happened. Hall-Thompson suffered an injury after his first preliminary race and subsequently missed the rest of the regional meet. However, at that same time Burrell ran 9.90 and 9.95 to qualify for nationals with the top 100m time in the West.

At that same time Coleman was competing in the Eastern regional and ended his weekend with the top times in both the 100 and 200. His 200m time broke the NCAA record easily.

It certainly seemed like Coleman might never lose a race again at this point. But I grew excited of the seeming inevitability of Burrell and him meeting again in the 100m final after fearing Burrell might not even qualify.

In Oregon, both won their semi final heats in record setting fashion. Burrell ran a wind legal 9.93 to set the UH record, beating his fathers time in the process. But Coleman ran 9.82, setting the NCAA record and making him the sole owner of all four sprint records in NCAA Track and Field. Coleman also qualified for the 200m final so the stage was set for him to try and win the double double.

Burrell had started the day of the final in high spirits after he helped UH win the 4x100m national title, running the anchor leg in the process. But in the 100m final it was clear it was Coleman's day. He got off to a great start and nobody could catch him. Burrell was forced to settle with second once again.

Coleman ended up capping one of the best seasons in NCAA history with a victory in the 200m later that evening. Winning both the indoor and outdoor sprinting events, and breaking their records, Coleman had accomplished the double double and was rightly named a finalist for the Bowerman award.

It was sour learning Burrell had lost again to Coleman, but it was not as shocking as the 60m final. Before I knew nothing of Coleman and saw first hand what he was capable of. This time I was in Dublin on a study abroad trip at the time of the race and only learned of it when I checked my phone that morning. Regardless I understood that Coleman had accomplished a near impossible feat. For that I had great respect for the sprinter.

I continued to follow the two sprinters as they competed at the USATF Outdoor Championships. But by this point my view of Coleman was different. Before I had been a college student reporting for our school paper and Coleman had been the guy who kept beating our guys. Naturally one has animosity toward the guy who keeps beating the athletes you support. It was too easy for me to say that without Coleman, Burrell would've been a national champion.

But watching the USATF final I learned Coleman had become a professional athlete, signing a 7 figure contract with Nike. He was no longer the enemy, now he was an athlete looking to win glory for his country. For that I was happy to see him qualify for Worlds in both sprinting events, though I was also thrilled to see Eli Hall-Thompson return from injury to qualify in the 200. But my point is I learned to appreciate who Coleman is.

He is one of the best sprinters in the world and someone who, if he stays consistent, will be medaling for the United States for many years to come. The college ranks might not see an athlete like him for many years, or it could be the very next season. Regardless it made sense for Coleman to leave. He had accomplished everything he could hope to accomplish individually and had been given an opportunity by Nike to make the most of it. He worked hard for what he wanted and is being rewarded for it.

Coleman helped me remember why I love track and field. He made it entertaining to watch, he added a storyline. Coleman was a terror on the track. In 2017 he was a literal villain to everyone in the college ranks. He did not lose until Justin Gatlin beat him in the USATF final. But I am happy to see him take the next step in his career and will be following him closely for many years to come.

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Photo Courtesy of Tennessee Volunteers Track and Field Facebook page