EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — American Christian Coleman edged world champion and fellow countryman Noah Lyles in the 100 meters at the season-ending Prefontaine Classic on Saturday.
Coleman won in 9.83 seconds, matching Lyles' world best this season, with Lyles finishing in 9.85. Coleman roared after his time became official and slapped the hand of a cheering fan at Eugene's Hayward Field.
The annual Prefontaine Classic, normally run earlier in the year, served as the Diamond League finale this season. Thirty-two champions were to be crowned over the two-day event, each winning $30,000.
Lyles won gold medals in the 100, 200 and 4x100 relay at the track and field world championships in Budapest, Hungary, last month. Coleman finished fifth in the 100, so on Saturday he got a bit of revenge.
“As a professional, you definitely want to take advantage of every opportunity that you can,” Coleman said. “I knew this one would be a good one. It was a world-class field, a chance for me to redeem myself a little bit coming off of a world final.”
Lyles was treating the Prefontaine as something of a victory lap in his own country. After Saturday's race, he celebrated second place with a salted caramel milkshake.
“I gotta come bring it back home,” Lyles said about running one final race this year on American soil.
Joining Coleman and Lyles in the star-studded event was sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson, who won golds in the 100 meters and the 100 relay in Budapest.
Richardson is in the midst of a comeback in the run-up to the Paris Olympics next summer, after she was denied a chance to run in the Tokyo Games because of a positive drug test for marijuana.
She ran a world-best time this season of 10.65 in Budapest but on Saturday she finished fourth in 10.80. Jamaican Shericka Jackson, the second-place finisher at the worlds, won the 100 in 10.70.
“I want people to understand, it is not related to just winning," Richardson said about her resurgence. “I’m having fun because I'm embedded within my spirit, within my mind, and within my community that I created for myself. So that’s the happiness that you guys see. And the wins are just a bonus.”
Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway won the Bowerman Mile, an event unique to the Prefontaine Classic, in a European record 3:43.73. It was also a Diamond League record.
American Rai Benjamin won the 400-meter hurdles in a Diamond League and meet record 46.39. He bested Norway's Karsten Warholm, who won the event at the worlds.
“I came out here with no expectation, just to have fun and close out the season," Benjamin said.
Grenada's Kirani James won the men's 400 in 44.30, ahead of American Quincy Hall. Matthew Hudson-Smith of Great Britain did not finish because of what appeared to be a hamstring injury.
Winfred Mutile Yavi of Bahrain won the steeplechase in 8 minutes, 50.66 seconds a world-leading time and personal best that topped her world championship winning time. Kenyan Simon Kiprop Koech won the men's steeplechase in 8:06.26.
Japan’s Haruka Kitaguchi won the women’s javelin and Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic won on the men's side. South Korea’s Sanghyeok Woo won the men’s high jump. Italy’s Andy Diaz Hernandez won the triple jump.
Kenyan World-record holder Faith Kipyegon wrapped up her season with a win in the 1,500 in 3:50.72 after claiming her second straight world title in the event in Budapest.
“It's been a long season, but for me I wanted to still stay strong and finish my season in a good way, win a trophy and go back home, happily,” she said.
The meet continues on Sunday.
___
AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
