Christian Coleman celebrates his victory in the men's 100-meter at the IAAF Diamond League Finals on Aug. 31, 2018 in Brussels, Belgium.
All season long, American teammates Ronnie Baker and Christian Coleman have been battling it out to see who’s the fastest in the world in the men’s 100-meter.
At the Diamond League Final on Friday in Brussels, Belgium, Coleman turned in a decisive performance, running a personal best and snatching the world-leading time away from Baker while winning the Diamond Trophy with a time of 9.79 seconds.
In doing so Coleman, a 2016 Olympian, ran the third-fastest time ever by an American at the distance and the seventh-fastest time in the world.
Baker, who set the world lead and a personal best of 9.87 seconds just last week and won Diamond League events four times this season in the 100, finished second in 9.93 seconds, just a fraction ahead of Jamaica’s Yohan Blake, who ran a season’s best 9.94 seconds.
“I got the trophy everyone was shooting for this season,” Coleman said.
Coleman wasn’t the only American to take home the Diamond Trophy and accompanying $50,000 prize in the second of two days of finals. Three Americans also won Diamond Trophies on Thursday in Zurich, Switzerland.
Olympic champion Brianna McNeal and world record holder Keni Harrison finished 1-2 in the women’s 100-meter hurdles. McNeal, who won three times previously this season, claimed her first Diamond Trophy with a time of 12.61 seconds with Harrison just behind her in 12.63 seconds.
In the men’s triple jump, two-time Olympic gold medalist Christian Taylor was going for his seventh title but finished second behind rival Pedro Pablo Pichardo of Portugal. Taylor won three of the four Diamond League meetings this season and Pichardo the other, but in the end Taylor’s best jump of 17.31 meters wasn’t enough to beat Pichardo’s 17.49. Americans Donald Scott, Omar Craddock and Chris Benard finished 3-4-5.
Olympic bronze medalist Sam Kendricks, who won four out of five Diamond League events in which he participated this summer, finished second in the pole vault with a best jump of 5.88 meters. Kendricks is the defending world champion in the event.
The U.S. landed three athletes in the top four of the women’s 400-meter with Olympic gold medalist and 2017 world champion Phyllis Francis finishing second (50.51 seconds), Shakima Wimbley third (50.77) and Jaide Stepter fourth (51.17).
Shelby Houlihan continued her strong season, battling it out for second place in the women’s 1,500-meter (3:58.94) after winning two Diamond League events earlier in the year and posting the world’s second-fastest time.
Raven Saunders finished second in the women’s shot put with a best throw of 19.64 meters while Sha’Keela Saunders was third in the women’s long jump with a top jump of 6.68 meters.
Karen Price is a reporter from Pittsburgh who has covered Olympic sports for various publications. She is a freelance contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.
