By Amy Tennery
(Reuters) – Christian Coleman and Sha’Carri Richardson will battle to stake their claims as the king and queen of American track in Eugene, Oregon this week, as the 100 metres specialists headline the U.S. championships.
The top three finishers in the meeting who meet certain qualifying standards and reigning global title-holders advance to the first world championships ever held in the United States at the same Oregon track starting on July 15.
Returning world champion Coleman, who came back to action in January after serving an 18-month suspension for breaching anti-doping whereabouts rules, said he was “the same guy” he was when he grabbed the 2019 global title in 9.76 seconds.
“I feel like it’s there,” Coleman told reporters after winning last week’s NYC Grand Prix 100m in 9.92.
“When you have a long layoff, obviously it’s going to affect you in some kind of way, so this whole season to me is a learning experience.”
He will be closely challenged by Olympic silver medallist Fred Kerley and U.S. Olympic trials champion Trayvon Bromell in one of the highlights of the meeting, which begins on Thursday.
Kerley won the distance in 9.92 at the Rome Diamond League meet earlier this month, while Bromell produced a wind-aided 9.75 at the UNF Invitational in April.
The ebullient fan-favourite Richardson, whose Olympic dreams ended early due to a 30-day suspension for a positive cannabis test, has declared for both the 100m and 200m.
The 22-year-old finished a hundredth of a second off her personal best to win the 100m earlier this month in Florida in a wind-aided 10.73.
“I feel phenomenal,” Richardson told reporters after producing a 10.85 to finish second behind compatriot Aleia Hobbs at the NYC Grand Prix.
The meeting will also feature the last U.S. championship appearance by retiring Allyson Felix, the most decorated American athlete, in the 400m, and four-times world champion and twice Olympic triple jump gold medallist Christian Taylor, on a comeback mission after missing the Tokyo Games due to an injury.
The men’s 200m will be Tokyo bronze medallist Noah Lyles’ sole focus, and Gabrielle Thomas, who collected bronze on the women’s side at the Games and is the third-fastest woman in the distance, will battle against Abby Steiner, who produced a season-leading 21.80 earlier this month.
The women’s 400m hurdles will offer an epic rivalry between Sydney McLaughlin, who won gold in Tokyo in a world-record 51.46, and reigning World Champion Dalilah Muhammad.
An intriguing rivalry also is taking shape in the men’s 110m hurdles, with world champion Grant Holloway’s title under threat from Devon Allen.
The Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver beat Holloway in New York earlier this month in an all-time third-fastest 12.84 and is brimming with confidence ahead of Eugene, where he ran at college.
“I would say I am just a great athlete. I bet that if I had played tennis 15 years ago, I would be a pro tennis player or golf, whatever,” he told reporters after winning the Oslo Diamond League meet.
“I enjoy doing a lot of sports. It is really hard to be great at anything on this level.”
Another Oregon favourite, world shot put record holder Ryan Crouser will face world champion Joe Kovacs, with Tokyo silver medallist Raven Saunders up against world indoor silver medallist Chase Ealey on the women’s side.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
