DOHA – Freshly crowned 100 metres world champion Christian
Coleman has pulled out of the 200m at the Doha championships.
The name of the 23-year-old was omitted in a revised start list for
Sunday night's race.
The American is reportedly sore after his three 100m rounds and
winning the title the previous day in a personal best at the end of a
longer than usual season.
Coleman had originally been bidding for a sprint double, and his
absence makes countryman Noah Lyles an even bigger favourite for the
gold on Tuesday. Lyles is the fourth fastest man over the distance
since a 19.50 seconds run in July.
Coleman was a controversial champion Sunday, given that he was only
cleared to compete on September 2 after the American anti-doping
agency USADA stopped a probe into three alleged missed doping tests
within 12 months.
USADA withdrew the process after being told by the World Anti-Doping
Agency it had not applied the whereabouts rules properly.