It was a tale of Championship Records (CR) on Day 3 of the ongoing World Indoor Championships in Birmingham, with USA’s duo of Christian Coleman and Kendra Harrison enjoying dominant victories in the men’s 60m and women’s 60m Hurdles respectively.
For Coleman who last month ran a breathtaking World Indoor Record (WIR) of 6.34s, it was a case of if he could come close to that, and he didn’t disappoint, winning with a new CR of 6.37s.
Having eased through in Heat 2 of the semis to win in 6.45s, there was no doubt the American was destined for the win much later on, leading from start to finish to win the race in the final. China’s Bingtian Su ran an Asian Record of 6.42s to win Silver, with Ronnie Baker getting Bronze, crossing the line in 6.44s.
Now that Coleman has won an indoor title, it could only be a matter of time before he translates that on the outdoor circuit and improve on his 100m Silver medal from last season.
For Kendra Harrison, she got to live up to the hype and talent she’s renowned for, winning the women’s 60m Hurdles title with a CR of 7.70s, her first ever global title. Harrison displayed right from the semis that she wasn’t going to take anything to chance, racing to a time of 7.79s to win heat 2.
In the final, a resolute Harrison powered herself through the barriers to win the contest. Christina Manning won Silver in 7.79s and Nadine Visser finished 3rd to secure Bronze in 7.84s, with Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan finishing 7th in 8.06s.
After waiting for so long to break out from the USA relay teams and chart her own individual course, Courtney Okolo made a big statement storming to her first world title winning the women’s 400m.
Okolo ran an imperious race, overcoming Shakima Wimbley’s good start and dominating from the changeover to win with a Personal Best (PB) of 50.55s. Wimbley got Silver in 51.47s and Eilidh Doyle ran a Season’s Best (SB) of 51.60s to win Bronze.
The men’s 400m produced some mixed feelings after Spain’s Óscar Husillos who led from start to finish won with a Championship Record of 44.92s and Luguelín Santos running a Domincan Record of 45.09s to place second. However both were disqualified for some violations, thereby missing on a historic moment in their careers.
Poland’s Pavel Maslak who initially finished 3rd in that race with a Season’s Best (SB) of 45.47s, got upgraded to 1st place, making a hattrick of 400m world indoor titles. Michael Cherry finished 2nd in 45.84s and Deon Lendore getting Bronze in 46.37s.
