“You Could Run 9.9 and Not Make the Team”: Rodney Green on Christian Coleman’s Failure to Make Paris Cut

The US Olympic Trials provided plenty of track action for the world’s track enthusiasts. However, there were a few surprises, such as Christian Coleman’s elimination from the US Team for the Paris Olympics after placing fourth in both the 100 and 200-meter sprint finals. This was a complete disaster for an athlete of his caliber, and even track legends like Rodney Green were caught off guard, as seen on the Ready Set Go podcast.

The Bahamian athlete had earlier picked Coleman as one of his top choices to qualify for the Paris Olympics in the categories in which he would compete.

However, the results were radically contrary, which he believed made the US Olympic Trials unpredictable. Green also described the event’s competitiveness, saying:

“The only country where you could run 9.9 and not make the team…9.93 was fourth, and Christian Coleman. 9.98 was fifth, and Christian Miller…9.9 guys. You had to run 9.8 to make this US Olympic team.”

Justin Gatlin added to the discussion by making a specific observation. He pointed out that Coleman raced 9.86 in the semi-finals and that if he had kept the same pace, he might have easily won silver, with Kenny Bednarek finishing third and Fred Kerley out of the Paris Olympics.

Prior to the Olympic Games, the four-time world champion emphasized the intensity of the competition as a result of the faster speeds, saying:

“It is so tough to make the men’s 100 meters and the women’s 100 meters’ finals, and to make the team, the top three…extremely hard. When you have those kind of stats, it’s all about using your energy at the right time, and you got to strike at the right time.”

This isn’t the first time the Bahamian sprinter’s prediction has been incorrect; he also misjudged another athlete at the event.

Green wants to apologise to Kerley

Fred Kerley’s performance and situation leading up to the US Olympic Trials had many admirers skeptical, including Rodney Green, who predicted he would not make it to the Olympics.

However, the three-time world champion proved a lot of people wrong with his bronze medal at Hayward Field in the 100-meter category, and because they were so close, Green asked Kerley to FaceTime him so that he could apologize for his incorrect prediction.

He also respects Kerley’s hard work in sprinting, despite all of the difficulties he has faced this season, and believes that he will exhibit a completely different version of himself at the Paris Olympics.