2017 USATF Outdoor Championships

Christian Coleman Turns Pro

Christian Coleman Turns Pro

Tennessee sprinter Christian Coleman turned professional today.

Jun 16, 2017 by Dennis Young
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After one of the greatest collegiate sprinting seasons of all time, Christian Coleman is skipping his senior season and turning professional. According to SEC Country, Coleman signed with Emanuel Hudson's HSI agency and will be remaining in Tennessee. It was an obvious choice for Coleman to turn pro: if he signs a shoe contract before next week's U.S. championships, he avoids the risk of tanking his value by missing the worlds team with an injury. (If that were to happen, Coleman's next opportunity to make an outdoor worlds team would be in 2019.)

HSI clients include Olympic medalists Kristi Castlin and English Gardner. 

Coleman's sweeps of the indoor 60 and 200 and the outdoor 100 and 200 made him the first man to win those four titles in one school year since Justin Gatlin, who also did so while an athlete at Tennessee. He tied the collegiate record in the 60 meters indoors, ran the No. 2 time ever in the indoor 200, broke the collegiate record in the 100, and ran the No. 2 time ever in the outdoor 200. 

He's the fastest man in the world this year in the 100 at 9.82 seconds and the second fastest in the 200 at 19.85. His 9.82 at the NCAA semifinals made him the fourth fastest American and eighth fastest man ever. Coleman could be a real challenger to Usain Bolt in his final world championships this August.