World Indoor Championships: Coleman wins 60m in record time

Christian Coleman won the 60m event in a championship record of 6.37s to clinch the gold medal at the World Indoor Championships in Birmingham.

Christian Coleman celebrates winning the men's 60m final at the 2018 IAAF World Indoor Athletics Championships on Sunday.

World record-holder Christian Coleman added the championship record to his growing list of achievements in winning the 60 meters at the World Indoor Championships. Coleman smashed Maurice Greene’s 20-year-old world record last month by clocking 6.34 seconds and he came within 0.03 seconds of that at Arena Birmingham.

The American, who turns 22 on Tuesday, never looked in danger as he beat Su Bingtian of China by 0.05 and U.S. team-mate Ronnie Baker by 0.07.

 

More records broken

Other world indoors records tumbled on the day as American Kendra Harrison set a new mark in the 60-meter hurdles as did compatriot Sandi Morris in the pole vault, and New Zealand’s Tomas Walsh in the shot put.

The oldest record belonging to the world indoors fell when Walsh’s last hurl of 22.31 meters eclipsed the record of 22.24 set by Ulf Timmermann in 1987, five years before the New Zealander was born.

READ: Ahoure makes history with 60m win

It was a third world indoor silver medal for David Storl of Germany. He and Tomas Stanek of the Czech Republic threw 21.44 but Storl had a superior second best throw.

America was favoured to sweep the podium in the 60 hurdles and although Harrison and Christina Manning finished one-two respectively, Nadine Visser of the Netherlands edged Sharika Nelvis for bronze.

There was another American one-two in the women’s 400. Courtney Okolo controlled from the start and won in 50.55 seconds. Team-mate Shakima Wimbley moved ahead of Britain’s Eilidh Doyle on the final straight to finish second.

Oscar Husillos thought he broke a championship record in the 400 but he and Luguelin Santos, who originally crossed the line in second, were disqualified for lane infringements, handing a third successive world indoors title to Pavel Maslak.

Morris attempted to break the world indoor pole vault record but failed in three attempts at 5.04 meters. She was runner-up at the 2017 world championships and 2016 Olympics, plus at the previous world indoors. Morris finally got her hands on a gold medal when she broke the championship record with her third attempt at 4.95, although she faced an anxious moment with one more woman left in the competition.

Anzhelika Sidorova couldn’t match Morris and finished second, ahead of Olympic and world champion Katerina Stefanidi.