“I feel like I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been in…” Christian Coleman said this minutes after he won the 100m race at the Prefontaine Classic last year. That was only his third 100m race of that season, but he still sounded confident, having retained his title from 2023. But this year? Things are different. As Coleman returns to Eugene in 2025, he has a tough job at hand. And you’d think that the probable baggage of a not-so-good season start at the back of his mind would be weighing him down. But, interestingly, his pre-race confession hints otherwise…

Christian Coleman is as cool as a cucumber! He has run seven 100m races so far in 2025, and hasn’t won a single one. His best performance has been a silver finish, and his worst has been missing the podium entirely in three of those seven races. You think this would be speaking on his confidence, right? Well, you’d be surprised to know that Coleman’s not really beating himself over those losses. Instead, he just said…

On July 4, Christian Coleman spoke to the Wanda Diamond League in a pre-race press conference, where he spoke about his intentions at the Prefontaine Classic. Opening about the Hayward Field track in general, he said, “I mean, for me, I really feel like the Hayward Magic is real. Like we’re able to just feel the fans and the support right there, you know, close and right up on the track. And then I think it’s just a fast track in general.” Coleman even said that ever since he first came to this track in 2015, he feels, “ I guess it’s just something in the air.”

Therefore, he confessed that usually his mentality coming to Eugene is like, “So you come up here for a specific reason to, you know, get the job done.” But this time, he isn’t pulling himself down with so many expectations… Instead, he said, “And so for me, I think it’s just, you know, getting out my own way, just getting out there, executing, relaxing, having some fun, and just putting the race out there that I know I’m capable of. And I’ll be just fine.” Coleman is truly going to trust his instincts this time and go with the flow this time, it seems. 

This approach feels a bit surprising because this time, at the Prefontaine Classic, the stakes are higher than usual for Christian Coleman. After his 2024 win, he is now at the brink of becoming the second ever three-peater in the 100m event here, 11 years after Justin Gatlin did so. And should he be successful in achieving the same, this would be Coleman’s fourth 100m title at the Pre Classic, establishing him the sureshot king of this throne. No wonder Coleman said in the same press conference that, “I think it’ll be a really big breakthrough for me.” He even said that he has been feeling very confident with his training and that the stars are aligning for him. However, from his words, he doesn’t seem to be entering the race with that aggression, that do-or-die attitude.

2 months ago, even after his fourth finish at the Shanghai Diamond League, Coleman had said, “I am not worried. It’s all there. I mean, it’s still early but I feel like I should be a little bit ahead of schedule where I am right now but, I don’t know, I mean, I feel good about it…” Looks like he is continuing that unfazed approach even now as he heads into a mega battle at the Prefontaine Classic. However, this seems surprising when one looks at the stacked field he is going up against….

Christian Coleman is not going to have it easy at the Prefontaine Classic

Imagine going up against a field that consists of athletes who have been in blazing form all season long, while you haven’t. That would be concerning, right? Well, while Christian Coleman has tried his best to push for better finishes this season and hasn’t been able to achieve that, some of his Pre Classic competitors have reached there effortlessly this season. For starters, there’s the Jamaican duo, Kishane Thompson and Ackeem Blake. Thompson just established his supremacy by becoming the Jamaican champ in world-leading time last week. And Blake has gone sub-10s this season, too.

But there’s more. There’s Trayvon Bromell, the athlete who clocked a world-leading 9.84s time at the Rome Diamond League in June. And not to forget Lachlan Kennedy, the young sprinter who clocked 9.98s in May to become the second ever Australian to dip sub 10s in a 100m race. There’s also Bayanda Walaza, the South African who just broke the U20 national record in the 100m and marginally missed the world record in the same event this season. He had previously been the world lead too after running a 9.99s time at the AGN Championships in Pretoria in March 2025.

So clearly, the competition is breakneck this time. While this should be why Christian Coleman comes in a little more alert this time, he is wearing a completely different attitude up his sleeve. Will that work for him? Let us know your predictions below!