That’s what went through my mind as this past weekend’s results started pouring in! I got started at 4:00 in the morning with the Diamond League meet from China. Another exciting race in the 100H from the women. Ending in a 12.45 for Jasmin Camacho Quinn. Another WR for Mondo at 6.24m. A sizzling 3:50.30 1500m by Gudaf Tsegay. Who looked like she decided halfway thru that the race just wasn’t fast enough, so she changed gears! It was actually fun to watch. That was the third fastest 1500m by the way. The match race of the day was the closing men’s 100m. Christian Coleman was first out and first across the line. It wasn’t his usual explosive start, but no one was able to go past him as he won 10.13 to 10.17 over Fred Kerley. Who just didn’t have that extra passing gear. Not the fastest race, but the way Coleman held off Kerley was impressive. That was the word for this weekend, impressive. As there were a lot of races that fit that word.

The men’s 400m at MtSAC in southern California for example. As Rai Benjamin opened his season running the 400m without hurdles. A race where he literally cruised to 44.42. Second place in the mid 45’s! And Benjamin didn’t look like he was exerting much energy. Also impressive was Brianna Lyston’s 100m victory in Louisiana. As she blitzed to a 10.83 (2.2). Slightly windy, but she demolished the field. Finding a supervisor gear midway, and putting space between her and the rest. While everyone was looking forward to Coleman v Kerley, two youngsters put on a show in Kenya. Courtney Lindsey blazing around the turn in the 200m then being run down by Letsile Tebogo. Both crossing the line in 19.71, the best in the world so far! Tebogo’s teammate Bayapo Ndouri ran a world leading 44.10 in the 400m. The meet in Nairobi also had world leading marks in the 800m, Emmanuel Wanyonyi 1:43.57 and the 1500m, Raynold Kipkorir 3:31.96. While Nairobi is at altitude, the performances were all impressive! After all that, the most impressive mark might be the world leading 100m of high schooler Christian Miller of Florida. Running at a meet in Clermont Florida, the 17 year old, ran 9.93. Making him the American U-20 record holder. Breaking the 9.97 of Trayvon Bromell. Not bad footsteps tho be following in.

So, things have hit high gear, and the race for tickets to Paris has begun. Excellent marks all over in spite of how early it is. Things are only going to get hotter. This coming weekend has several more meets that should have outstanding competition. The Drake and Penn Relays begin near the end of the week and go into the weekend. Both have outstanding histories. The LSU Invitational on Saturday is sure to have several outstanding teams in attendance. And for us track nuts, there’s also the Bermuda Invitational on Sunday. Competitors will include Noah Lyles, Gabby Thomas and Rai Benjamin. This will lead us into May. Where we’ll start with the World Relays in the Bahamas on the 4th and 5 th.

So here we go. Championship season is just around the corner. Time to settle in and enjoy the ride.