'Sore' sprinter Christian Coleman pulls out of world 200 metres
Says he's available to run 4x100 relay next week after Saturday's 100 victory
What Christian Coleman really needed were a couple of days off.
A day after winning his world championship in the 100 metres, the American sprinter pulled out of Sunday's 200 preliminaries in Doha, Qatar.
"Just feeling a little sore," Coleman told The Associated Press, while waiting in the hallway for his medal ceremony to begin.
With Coleman out of the mix, the path gets clearer for American Noah Lyles, who has the world's leading time this year at 19.50 seconds. Canada's Andre De Grasse is expected to be in the mix, as will Divine Oduduru of Nigeria, the NCAA champion at both 100 and 200.
'It's been a long season'
VIDEO | Watch the men's 100-metre final:
His plan had been to go for the 100-200 double, but when he woke up Sunday, that plan changed.
Most track seasons start winding down around the start of September, but this one has been stretched out due to the IAAF's decision to bring the world championships to the desert, where the highs in Doha are still hovering around 38C in the first full week of fall.
After his victory, Coleman was hit with several questions about his whereabouts case.
The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency started a case, then later dropped it, after authorities determined Coleman had not violated a rule requiring athletes to keep current records of where they plan to be each day so they can be tested with no advance notice.
WATCH | Andre De Grasse on his progress through the season:
He insisted the fallout from the case hasn't soured his celebration.
"I feel pretty good," Coleman said. "I'm a gold medallist. Ran a personal best. Can't get any better than that."
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