Christian Coleman vs Fred Kerley: Who's the faster 100m sprinter as American counterparts square off once again at Shanghai Diamond League

Christian Coleman and Fred Kerley will once again headline the Diamond League, this time around in Shanghai, China. The two American sprinters are equally faster over the 100m distance, both of them having similar personal best timings in the discipline.

The two World Champions squared off last week at the Xiamen Diamond League, and it was the 60m world record holder who emerged on top. However, there's no guarantee the same could happen again at the second Diamond League meeting.

Coleman won the Xiamen clash by a narrow 0.04s after clocking 10.13s for the win. Kerley ran the 100m distance in 10.17s while Jamaica’s Ackeem Blake finished 3rd in 10.20s.

Fred Kerley started off the blocks quicker than Christian Coleman and led the field for the initial 30 meters. However, the 60m indoor champion didn't take much time to attain the top speed and overtook Kerley in the last part of the race.

It was the first 100m event of the outdoor season for Coleman and he will surely clock faster times in Shanghai than he did at Xiamen. However, Kerley had already opened his outdoor season at the Hurricane Invitational with a sensational 10.03s.

While he was expected to better his timing and slide under the 10s mark, the 2022 100m world champion couldn't do it. This time around, the odds are hanging in balance.

While Coleman is itching to make it to the Olympics for the first time in his career and run as fast as he can, the Tokyo silver medalist, on the other hand, will be looking to avenge last week's loss and maintain his head-to-head dominance over the 60m world champion.

Christian Coleman vs Fred Kerley: Head-to-head stats over 100m

Day 9 - World Athletics Championships Budapest 2023

Christian Coleman and Fred Kerley have faced off five times over the 100m distance in their career till now, and it's the latter who has come out triumphant more. Kerley enjoys a lead of 3-2 over Coleman, who aims to level the field at the Shanghai Diamond League.

Kerley has won thrice over Coleman and enjoyed the clean sweep until last year. The two faced off at Xiamen Diamond League 2023 and it turned out to be a nail-biting contest. Coleman narrowly won the 100m event after clocking 9.83s while Kerley finished second with 9.83s.

With that, Christian Coleman improved the record to 3-1, and this year in Xiamen, it changed to 3-2 after another nail-biting finish. Whether the head-to-head record changes to 3-3 or 4-2, it should be a cracker between these two in Shanghai on April 27.