EUGENE, Oregon (July 15) — Reigning world champion Christian Coleman has been drawn in the same 100m heat with Olympic bronze medalist Andre De Grasse, while Olympic champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs will face Jamaica’s Oblique Seville in his heat at the World Athletics Championships 2022 on Day 1 here in Oregon on Friday (15).
Jacobs, the surprising champion at the Olympics in Tokyo last summer, hasn’t been in the same form as he was in 2021 and has been bothered by a couple of injuries that forced him to withdraw from a few Diamond League meetings in the build-up to the world championships.
The Italian last raced at the national champion in Rieti on 25 June, while his lone sub-10 seconds performance of 9.99 secs, was slightly aided by a 2.3 m/s wind reading in May. Read more: Day 1 – World Athletics Championships 2022 order of events, start lists and how to watch
On Friday Jacobs will be well tested in his heat when he lines up in section four against Jamaica’s young star Oblique Seville, who has already posted times of 9.86 and 9.88 this season.
Great Britain’s Reece Prescod who has also dipped under 10-seconds this season, at 9.93, is also drawn in the same heat. Read Also: Men’s 100m start list for the heats – World Athletics Championships 2022
Meanwhile, the defending world champion Coleman will open the defense of his title from heat six where he will come up against De Grasse, who said recently that he’s starting to get his confidence back after a couple of setbacks because of COVID-19 and injuries.
Coleman has a season-best of 9.87 seconds, while his Canadian competitor is yet to break 10 seconds in 2022.
Benjamin Azamati of Ghana who clocked 9.90 earlier this year at the Texas Relays, will also start from this heat.
Olympic silver medalist and current world leader Fred Kerley will begin his pursuit of a first individual world title from heat two and he will take on a field that includes European champion Zharnel Hughes of Great Britain and Emmanuel Matadi of Liberia who has clocked 9.98 this year.
China’s Su Bingtian, the Olympic finalist and the Asian record holder with the 9.83 secs he clocked in the semi-finals in Tokyo last summer, will make his season debut in Eugene.
Elsewhere, Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala of Kenya who made it just in time to compete at the championships after getting his visa last-minute to travel to the United States on Thursday, will start from the seventh heat.
American Trayvon Bromell, the second-fastest this season at 9.81, will compete from heat three, while 2011 world champion Yohan Blake of Jamaica will feature in the fifth heat, and his countryman and training partner Ackeem Blake races alongside American Marvin Bracy in heat one.
