Is the Next Great Sprint Rivalry Here? Christian Coleman (and Girlfriend) Throw Shade At Noah Lyles on Twitter

Boldon is a moran.

All other things being equal, it’s better when the differences are on the track, and only on the track. We don’t need off-track jerk behavior like we have seen from other athletes (or even on-track jerk behavior like The Greener, Crawfish, etc).

And “the girlfriend”, I have no idea what she said or did, but...GET LOST. This is the kind of crap interference that nobody needs. Get your own life.

Good-natured, honorable, solid competition, then everybody wins.

“Back in his day” were some of the most detestable stains on the history of sprints. They made sprinting worse, not better.

Boldon = Moran.

Sprintgeezer wrote:

Boldon is a moran.

All other things being equal, it’s better when the differences are on the track, and only on the track. We don’t need off-track jerk behavior like we have seen from other athletes (or even on-track jerk behavior like The Greener, Crawfish, etc).

And “the girlfriend”, I have no idea what she said or did, but...GET LOST. This is the kind of crap interference that nobody needs. Get your own life.

Good-natured, honorable, solid competition, then everybody wins.

“Back in his day” were some of the most detestable stains on the history of sprints. They made sprinting worse, not better.

Boldon = Moran.

Boldon is very smart and that's why we like him.

It's pretty ironic that you are calling someone a moron and making big statements when you admit you haven't even read the article. So please read the article and get back to us.

This isn't "off-track jerk behavior." The comments for the most part are pretty innocent talking about how it's not important to PR in May. It's not much different than what used and probably still does happen all the time in person, something along the lines of, "You got me now buddy but it's May. See you when it counts."

The difference is now that stuff is permanent on twitter.

Sprintgeezer wrote:

Boldon is a moran.

All other things being equal, it’s better when the differences are on the track, and only on the track. We don’t need off-track jerk behavior like we have seen from other athletes (or even on-track jerk behavior like The Greener, Crawfish, etc).

And “the girlfriend”, I have no idea what she said or did, but...GET LOST. This is the kind of crap interference that nobody needs. Get your own life.

Good-natured, honorable, solid competition, then everybody wins.

“Back in his day” were some of the most detestable stains on the history of sprints. They made sprinting worse, not better.

Boldon = Moran.

I am going to disagree here. While I do agree that the off track trash talk and social media nonsense is a bit dry for a purist such as myself. We don't need to look any further than say, the UFC, for instance with this kind of behavior and the way it attracts fans. PEOPLE LOVE DRAMA. Look what happened when Conor McGregor came in with his bold personality to only show he is an extremely weak grappler and nowhere near as great as we previously expected. The guy is now worth billions because of his showmanship. We are constantly discussing here how on earth track and field is going to attract more fans..this unfortunately..will grab some people's attention if it makes it into the mainstream..There's a story, there's hype, there's a build up..then a race to settle the differences.

HOOWIE wrote:

I am going to disagree here. While I do agree that the off track trash talk and social media nonsense is a bit dry for a purist such as myself. We don't need to look any further than say, the UFC, for instance with this kind of behavior and the way it attracts fans. PEOPLE LOVE DRAMA. Look what happened when Conor McGregor came in with his bold personality to only show he is an extremely weak grappler and nowhere near as great as we previously expected. The guy is now worth billions because of his showmanship. We are constantly discussing here how on earth track and field is going to attract more fans..this unfortunately..will grab some people's attention if it makes it into the mainstream..There's a story, there's hype, there's a build up..then a race to settle the differences.

Couldn't agree more. A little feud or rivalry between Coleman and Lyles is exactly what track needs. Bolt is gone and the average guy in the street has no reason to watch track.

If Coleman and Lyles want to talk a little **** good for them.

My take is Coleman is a bit worried about Lyles eclipsing him.

The scared dogs is the one who barks.

Good for ratings and good for the sport. For the most part the athlete know it's entertainment and do this act accordingly. It's the old white guys who get bent out of shape over it.

I read it, and I feel the same.

I was criticizing the GF and Boldon, not CC or Lyles, who are young jacked-up sprinters who can’t necessarily help themselves. Taking shots at each other is fine if you don’t mean anything by it, but these things tend to escalate.

Celebrating is one thing, rubbing someone else’s nose in it is another. That is how bad spirit starts, and that bad spirit is continued in subsequent responses like tweets. It’s not fun, it’s not interesting, it becomes salacious and goes down the toilet. It’s no longer track, it’s some lame reality-show drama. If this is the best future Boldon can imagine for track, then he lacks imagination.

Those behaviors shouldn’t be sanctioned until they pass some threshold like in the NFL for instance, but neither should they be encouraged or even supported, as Boldon advocates. They are the thin edge of the wedge that divides us. Look what happened in GBR sprinting a few years back—was all that “animosity” and “rivalry” good for GBR sprinting? Hardly. It is only since a new crop of sprinters has emerged that GBR sprinting has been resurrected.

Where is the line? I don’t know, but what I do know is that if things continue as it seems that Boldon would like, at some point it becomes either unfair to declare a line, or even impracticable to do so—then it is just a big distraction from the sport, like the DSD-XY issue is now, and the actual sport weakens before the tawdry drama.

Bolt continuing to run another 100m around the track and then striking a pose? Fine by me. Some guy chest-thumping while among his competitors? Tougher. Not commendable behavior.

Athletic competition should be an elevated exercise, and should not descend to the same level as the everyday. It should be a model. That is the point of the Olympic spirit, and the whole point of modern sport as a proxy for war and violent combat.

We don’t need “animosity”. It doesn’t make CC-Lyles any better than Bolt-Powell, or Blake-Gay, or Smith-Lewis...or Boldon-Fredericks, for that matter, in which rivalries I can’t recall any evidence of animosity.

And the GF, I repeat: get lost, get your own life. Not good for CC. Yeah I know that she has every right to express herself, but she should have the good sense not to. Once a GF gets involved publicly, it’s lights out. Hopefully everybody else involved will have the good sense not to respond to her.

After seeing his responses to losing to Lyles, he is a sore loser. He even had his girlfriend fire some choice words in a subtweet. Winners win and losers talking about the winners, am I right?

With that said, this rivalry is going to be awesome!

Positive Contribution wrote:

heering wrote:

Couldn't agree more. A little feud or rivalry between Coleman and Lyles is exactly what track needs. Bolt is gone and the average guy in the street has no reason to watch track.

If Coleman and Lyles want to talk a little **** good for them.

My take is Coleman is a bit worried about Lyles eclipsing him.

The scared dogs is the one who barks.

Good for ratings and good for the sport. For the most part the athlete know it's entertainment and do this act accordingly. It's the old white guys who get bent out of shape over it.

Because all old white guys are the same, right? Idiot.

And settling something via structured combat is one thing, but racing is another, that doesn’t have the same type of resolution. In sprint racing you only beat your competitors indirectly—ie you didn’t make them lose. All you affected is yourself. There is no direct interaction during the competition.

I have seen fighters who started off hating each other become the best of friends, often deeply respectful of each other—but I have never seen this kind of outcome among sprinters. Unstructured fights between sprinters don’t result in this outcome, and I have seen more than a few. Because there is no direct interaction, the gulfs tend to widen, the animosity, bitterness, and resentment grow rather than dissipate.

National rivalries? Sure. Childish behavior? Grow up, be men. Those of us who are grown up should help guide the next guys to a better place, not exploit their inexperience and immaturity for the sake of watching a cheap drama, or lining our own pockets.

Sprintgeezer wrote:

It’s no longer track, it’s some lame reality-show drama.

reality-show dramas have a much bigger audience than track and field. if we want a bigger audience, and bigger paychecks for athletes, then some drama is necessary.

Dude, you've written 747 words on this subject in 2 hours. Maybe relax a little bit.

Sprintgeezer wrote:

Boldon is a moran.

All other things being equal, it’s better when the differences are on the track, and only on the track. We don’t need off-track jerk behavior like we have seen from other athletes (or even on-track jerk behavior like The Greener, Crawfish, etc).

And “the girlfriend”, I have no idea what she said or did, but...GET LOST. This is the kind of crap interference that nobody needs. Get your own life.

Good-natured, honorable, solid competition, then everybody wins.

“Back in his day” were some of the most detestable stains on the history of sprints. They made sprinting worse, not better.

Boldon = Moran.

Only a *moron spells moron incorrectly. Also I completely disagree with your point, like a lot of other people on this thread. Trash talk gets the fans going and makes everyone more excited for the next matchup. These two are about to dominate the sprints and I’m frankly stoked for their next race together.

WinnytheBish wrote:

After seeing his responses to losing to Lyles, he is a sore loser. He even had his girlfriend fire some choice words in a subtweet. Winners win and losers talking about the winners, am I right?

With that said, this rivalry is going to be awesome!

Completely agree. Coleman seems to be a bit worried. Plus .0006 seconds could be the difference between gold and silver at worlds this fall.

This is great for T&F. Rivalry dynamics are perfect. Adidas vs. Nike. College career vs. straight out of HS. Fast-starter vs. Fast-Finisher. Quiet guy vs. Loud guy.

Now, we need these guys to embrace the idea and not dodge each other because of their "brand." It is better for these guys if they race not just at USAs/Worlds, but at 2-3 meetings a year. Let the "Fastest Man" thing be an ongoing battle.

Dude, please chill out. This sport needs entertainment and diversification of the emotions being displayed. All of the athletes don't need to be best friends. It is way more entertaining watching events where athletes have created a divide that also creates major fan loyalty on both sides versus a lot of neutral fans just watching some people run fast for 9.xx seconds.

Only a *moron spells moron incorrectly.

You haven't been on Let's Run long, have you?

I forgot Lyles was adidas as adidas doesn't know how to market running but it is amazing how Nike never has the top 100 guys anymore.

I see the points SprintGeezer is making, but the reality of sport is that marketing plays an essential role in its funding and popularity. Much of what boosts interest in sports has to do with what happens off the track/court/rink/field/etc - such as the whacky 'analysis' by Stephen A Smith in basketball; love him or hate him, he drums up viewership - and if it weren't for the hype surrounding various sports, people wouldn't get as involved in following them. Track and Field needs more fans, and Boldon made excellent points along those lines.

As an aside: I disagree that Coleman and Lyles are too 'jacked up to control themselves.'

I never understood the quote "In NBA basketball, the series starts when the home team loses"

Because sometimes the home team never loses...

Like Celtics-Bucks last year...which was definitely a series. The only real insightful part of the analysis is that if a series is 2-0 it doesn't necessarily mean it's over because home court is very important.