There was a time not too long ago when Christian Coleman stepping into a track meant a different thing altogether. Don’t believe? Check his US Indoor Championships world record in 2018, where he blazed the track in 6.34s. World Record! King of the 60m Dash- Coleman was that guy! But it wasn’t always about his 60m exploits. The Atlanta Native turned heads in the 100m when he won the 2019 World Championships, clocking 9.76 seconds. But, Coleman, who showed his Athletic prowess at the World Championships 2017, when he toppled Usain Bolt (farewell race) to finish second behind Justin Gatlin, has somewhat failed to maintain his peak performances. And now, as the 2025 season has unfolded, something has felt off!

They are not adding up the way fans are used to witnessing. From a second-place finish in the 4x100m Pepsi Florida relays, where the USA finished second to Canada, to a 10.06 at the Tom Jones Memorial (Only good for fourth place). But the latest result at the Xiamen Diamond League is the one that may rub salt in his wounds, as two-time champion, failed to even finish on the podium, with a sluggish fourth place. Coleman is not having the time of his life, and even coaches are beginning to say it out loud. And one such coach has something to say!

Well, Xiamen Diamond League, the gauntlet, which Coleman wasn’t ready for, the two-time defending champion failed to impress in a field that was missing big names like Noah Lyles, Fred Kerley, Kishane Thompson, and a recent Grand Slam track winner in short sprints- Kenny Bednarek. He finished fourth, clocking 10.18s.

Speaking on the race, A Track and field coach, Rob, who runs his YouTube channel by Coach Rob Track and Field, gave an analysis, where the defending champion slid to fourth. Speaking on that on his YouTube Channel a day ago, Rob shared, “When the gun went off, well, the race, depending on who you ask, I guess it went according to plan, because Akane Sambini was the world leader in the 100 coming into this moment,” 31-year-old, Akani Simbine, eventually won the race, clocking 9.99s, a shade below his leading time in Botswana on 12th April. “And he validated it, because he didn’t just win the race. He ran away from the field. He went 9.99 seconds with a positive 0.2 win.”

Coleman wasn’t anywhere near the podium, and his form has been under scrutiny. “So now the real question is, where does Christian Coleman finish? And he didn’t get third either….Coleman slid all the way down to fourth.” Further analysing Christian Coleman’s performance, Rod said, “For each athlete on the line, they all have very different plans going forward when we look to the Worlds…In Christian Coleman’s case, he has now run multiple 100s. He ran at the Tom Jones Memorial and got third on that stage…And that was a race where there was no Fred Curley. There was no Noah Lyles.There was no Kenny Bednarik. Those are the men who kept him off of Team USA to represent at the Games.” And where is the lie?

Last year, he failed to make the US Olympic team individually, finishing fourth in both 100m and 200m trials, amid the rise of athletes like Noah Lyles, Fred Kerley, and Kenny Bednarek, and this result just piled up the challenges for the sprinter. Further talking about Coleman’s form and trials, Coach Rob kept it straight, “Where would Christian Coleman have finished if we just sent him to the Games (Paris 2024) anyway? Like, if they let him on the line…what would have happened? For where he was last year, he likely would have finished in the Olympic final at the very least in both the 100 and the 200.” But pointing at his current form, Rod mentioned, “Not with Christian Coleman running in the form we just saw.”

Coach Rod did not stop here and rather talked about what he thinks of Christian Coleman in the future of his season: “when you’re the defending champion for this meeting multiple times over, you do become the star of the show…it’s now been multiple races where we’ve more or less gotten the same script. He doesn’t really get as big a lead as we…But if you don’t really have much of a lead and the field makes a move, they move away from you.” Let’s just say, there wasn’t anything subtle about what Rob said. 

But is the situation that concerning?

Christian Coleman’s performances have been going downhill since the Paris Olympic trials

Coleman has been on a wild ride lately. Once the fastest man on the track, Coleman looked like he was on top when he stunned the world champion at the Prefontaine Classic, when he clocked at that time (world-leading) 9.83 seconds. It felt like Vintage Coleman was back. But fast forward, the story has taken a tough turn.

The Olympic trials brought some shockers! He didn’t make it to the individual events for the Paris Olympics after finishing fourth in the Trials. While 4x100m brought some hopes, but then what came next was pretty gut-wrenching for the 29-year-old athlete. His quest for his first Olympic medal was dashed after the USA finished fifth initially (later disqualified) after they botched the first handoff from Coleman to Kenny Bednarek. The team was composed of Christian Coleman, Kenny Bednarek, Kyree King, and Fred Kerley.

While result after that offered a brief reprieve to the track and field star, when he finished second in the Diamond League finals on 13th September, clocking 10.00s behind Ackeem Blake. But the 2025 season?

This has been a real wake-up call for the athlete. At a meet at Tom Jones’ memorial, where he was expected to dominate, he ended up fourth. But the really disappointing part? The meet didn’t have any Olympic or World Championship-appearing athletes. Courtney Lindsey stole the show with a sharp 9.97s, another teenage sensation, Christian Miller, dropped 10.02s, and Coleman, who is still searching for his first sub-10, finished fourth at 10.06s. Such has been the form of the former world champion, he has the 25th best time in the season, and has failed to drop under 10. And what happened at Xiamen is already known. So, what do you think, is it just a bad start to a season, or is it going to be a bad season?