Sha’Carri Richardson’s boyfriend, Christian Coleman, looked like he could win the men’s 100m at the Diamond League Final in Brussels on September 4, but the American sprinter could not hold on as the race reached its final stages. Coleman exploded out of the blocks with the fastest reaction time and quickly moved into contention for the victory. However, his early advantage began to disappear as Oblique Seville took a win in 9.90 seconds, leaving Coleman to settle for sixth in 10.01. Shortly after the race, Coleman took to Instagram to share his thoughts on the disappointing result.
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The American shared a video of his Brussels race on his Instagram Story and appeared to take the result as another learning experience as he continues working on his sprinting. Coleman captioned the post, “Working on tying everything together, gotta apply my new tools better but… it’ll come soon enough 🙏🏾 grateful and healthy 🙌🏾.”
Coleman’s race began with plenty of promise. After Trayvon Bromell was initially called for a false start, officials showed a green card and allowed the field to race again. On the second start, Bromell got away quickly with 0.115, but Coleman soon moved past him and pushed himself into the lead. His reaction time of 0.124 seconds was the second fastest among all nine finalists, giving him an excellent start.
Coleman continued to look dangerous through the early stages, but the race began to change as the sprinters entered the final 40 metres. Seville gradually closed the gap and produced the strongest finish, while Emmanuel Eseme and Kayinsola Ajayi also moved ahead of Coleman. The American was unable to maintain the speed he had generated during his powerful opening, eventually finishing sixth in 10.01 seconds.
The conditions also made the sprint difficult. The race was held in cool weather with light rain, while the wind was recorded at a legal +0.1 m/s. Despite the conditions, Seville managed to produce a winning 9.90, followed by Eseme in 9.93 and Ajayi in 9.97. Lachlan Kennedy finished fourth in 9.99, while Gift Leotlela edged Coleman for fifth after both were timed at 10.01. Coleman missed fifth place by just 0.003 seconds.
The result was not what Coleman wanted, especially after producing a 9.90 season best earlier this year. Still, his strong start remains a major strength. Now, he will have another chance to put his new tools to work at the 2026 World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest. Coleman is already qualified for the men’s 100m through the World Rankings, sitting 12th with 1,306 points. With another major race ahead, he will have one more chance to show what he can do before his 2026 season comes to an end.
But for Coleman, the 2026 season has been a much more encouraging one after a difficult 2025 campaign.
Coleman turns a difficult 2025 into a stronger 2026
Coleman’s 2025 season got off to a slow start by his standards. He opened his Diamond League campaign with 10.18 seconds in Xiamen, finishing fourth, before running 10.13 for fifth in Shanghai/Keqiao. He then finished seventh at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene with 10.06, well behind winner Kishane Thompson, who clocked 9.85.
The results showed how far Coleman was from his best form early in the season. He was struggling to break the 10-second mark consistently. However, his form improved as the year went on. Coleman ran 9.96 at the Silesia Diamond League in August before finishing the season with a 9.97 victory at the Diamond League Final in Zurich. The biggest issue in 2025 was not his ability to run fast, but how long it took him to find that level.
In 2026, Coleman found that form much earlier. He has been far more competitive against the world’s top sprinters, recording 10.19 in Shaoxing/Keqiao, 10.08 in Xiamen, 9.95 in Eugene and 9.93 in Silesia. More importantly, he broke the 9.90 barrier in New York on July 24.
Coleman also showed that the performance was not a one-time result. At the Silesia Diamond League in August, he ran 9.93 in the final to finish third behind Oblique Seville and Kenny Bednarek. Those performances showed a much more consistent Coleman compared with the early part of his 2025 season.
That is why his disappointing sixth-place finish in Brussels does not tell the full story of his 2026 campaign.