Jamaica’s Ackeem Blake secured his first global medal by claiming third place in the men’s 60m final on Friday’s opening day of the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Scotland.
Blake completed the race in a time of 6.46 seconds, earning the bronze medal.
Christian Coleman of the USA delivered an exceptional performance to clinch the gold medal, beating compatriot Noah Lyles. Coleman, the world record holder, crossed the finish line in 6.41 seconds, the fastest time run this season and 0.2 faster than he had ever recorded. He narrowly defeated Lyles by three-hundredths of a second, reversing their one-two finish from the USA Track and Field Indoor Championships held two weeks prior.
Coleman, renowned for his exceptional starts, had the fastest reaction time on Friday, recording .127. Lyles, who was seventh out of the blocks in the eight-man field, registered a .159 reaction time but closed the gap in the late stages of the race, unable to catch up with Coleman.
A silver medal in 6.44, just 0.01 off the personal best he had produced to beat Coleman to the US indoor title earlier this year, represented a serious statement of intent for a runner who has come down to this distance from 200m running, where he has three world titles to his name.
“It was a great run,” Lyles insisted. “Right up among my best runs. To run 6.44, I am very impressed with myself. I’ve run three rounds today. And what a great indoor season!
“The thing is – this is the weakest part of my race.”
Coleman commented: “I had a lot of confidence in myself coming in. You have to feel confident in yourself. I set my mind on letting my body do what I have been doing in practice and I came out with a win. I can look forward to the rest of the summer. I’ve got so many things to work on and I am just looking forward to these opportunities When you get these opportunities, you have got to take them.”
Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala secured fourth place, finishing the race in 6.56 seconds. The Commonwealth champion will have to wait longer for a global medal.
Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme, who had set consecutive national records of 6.54 and 6.52 in reaching the final, was unable to progress further, settling for sixth place in 6.68.
