Olympic champion Jacobs beats Coleman to win world’s fastest man duel at world indoor championships

 

Italian Marcell Jacobs consolidated his claim as the world’s fastest man, following his surprise Olympic 100m gold medal by winning the world indoor 60m title by three thousandths of a second over American star Christian Coleman.

Jacobs rallied in the final strides to overtake Coleman, the world’s fastest 100m sprinter in the last Olympic cycle who missed the Tokyo Games due to a ban over missed drug tests. Coleman also holds the 60m world record of 6.34 seconds from 2018.

Both men clocked 6.41 seconds in Belgrade on Saturday. Jacobs’ time to the thousandth was 6.407 to Coleman’s 6.410. Another American, Marvin Bracy, took bronze in 6.44.

Coleman and Jacobs are expected to face off again at the biggest meet of the year, the world outdoor championships, in Eugene, Oregon, in July.

Also on Saturday evening, Bahamian Shaunae Miller-Uibo, the two-time Olympic 400m champion, earned her first world title, clocking 50.31 to beat Olympic 400m hurdles bronze medalist Femke Bol of the Netherlands by .26.

In the men’s 400m, Jereem Richards of Trinidad and Tobago edged American Trevor Bassitt, 45.00 to 45.05.

Ukrainian Yaroslava Mahuchikh won the women’s high jump, reportedly after fleeing her hometown after the Russian invasion three weeks ago and needing three days to drive to Belgrade.

“Terrible sounds of explosions, artillery fire and shooting,” she said before worlds, according to European Athletics. “Even before I called my parents, I understood that this was war.”