XIAMEN, China (Reuters) – American Christian Coleman powered to victory in the men’s 100 metres race at the Xiamen Diamond League as the premier one-day series returned to China for the first time in four years on Saturday after COVID disruptions.
Coleman crossed the line in a joint world leading time of 9.83 seconds to draw huge roars at the Egret Stadium in Xiamen, which replaced Shenzhen and will continue to host one of two Diamond League meetings in the Asian nation until 2032.
He was ahead of Jamaican Kishane Thompson who clocked 9.85 seconds for silver. American 2022 world champion Fred Kerley, who failed to qualify for the final at the Budapest world championships last month, took bronze in 9.96 seconds.
Italian Lamont Marcell Jacobs has barely raced since his Tokyo Olympics victory and finished a disappointing seventh.
Earlier, 2012 Olympic champion Kirani James got the elite track events off to a thrilling start, as the Grenadian edged American Quincy Hall in a photo finish to bag the men’s 400m gold with a season’s best effort of 44.38 seconds.
“I feel great. My execution today was good,” said the 31-year-old James. “The audience and the stadium is fantastic. It feels pretty good to have my season’s best here.”
Jamaica’s Rusheen McDonald settled for bronze, coming home in 44.82 seconds.
World cross-country champion Beatrice Chebet cruised to victory in the women’s 3,000m event with a world leading time of eight minutes, 24.05 seconds, finishing ahead of Mexico’s Laura Galvan and fellow Kenyan Margaret Akidor.
The Diamond League heads to Brussels on Sept. 8 before the season concludes in Eugene on Sept. 16-17.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Helen Popper)
