Christian Coleman discusses how beginning to train under the coach of his rumored girlfriend, Sha’Carri Richardson, has benefited him.
Christian Coleman, the 2019 World Champion in the 100 meters, has recently made headlines not just for his performances on the track but for a significant coaching change that he believes has reignited his career
.After narrowly missing out on qualifying for the individual races at the Paris Olympics, Coleman decided to switch coaches—a decision he says is already paying dividends.
Coleman finished second at the Rome Diamond League on Friday night, clocking 9.92 seconds in the 100m, just behind the rising star Letsile Tebogo, who won with a time of 9.87 seconds.
Fred Kerley, took third place in 9.95 seconds. While Coleman was part of the U.S. 4x100m relay team that was disqualified in the final, his absence from the individual races at the Olympics was a bitter pill to swallow.
After the race in Rome, Coleman reflected on his recent changes and how they have impacted his performance.
“With all the changes I made this year, I feel good about where I am at now,” Coleman said. “I had a decent start. I will be even better in two weeks at the Diamond League final. Yet, I am not sure about Zurich.”
The most significant of those changes was his decision to switch coaches this summer. Coleman confirmed the move after much speculation, noting that this race in Rome was his first since the U.S. trials.
The change was first hinted at in a July 9 post by Track Spice, which reported that Coleman was spotted training with Dennis Mitchell at the Star Athletics Track Club—the same club where sprint sensation Sha’Carri Richardson, who is rumored to be Coleman’s girlfriend, also trains.
This marked a significant shift from his longtime partnership with Tim Hall, who had coached Coleman since his collegiate days at the University of Tennessee.
Under Hall’s guidance, Coleman achieved some of his career’s most remarkable feats, including his personal best of 9.76 seconds in the 100 meters, which he ran to win gold at the 2019 World Championships in Doha.