Feeling sore, Coleman drops out of 200m at worlds; Gemili fastest in men’s heats

What Christian Coleman really needed were a couple of days off.

A day after winning his world championship at 100 meters, the American sprinter pulled out of the 200-meter preliminaries, which were set to begin Sunday.

"Just feeling a little sore," Coleman told The Associated Press, while waiting in the hallway for his medal ceremony to begin.

He said he would be available for the 4x100 relays, which begin Friday.

Coleman won the 100 in a runaway, clocking a personal-best of 9.76 seconds and beating Justin Gatlin to the line by .13 seconds — the largest margin of victory at worlds or the Olympics since 2011.

His plan had been to go for the 100-200 double, but when he woke up Sunday, that plan changed.

"No big deal," he said. "It's been a long season."

Most track seasons start winding down around the start of September, but this one has been stretched out due to the IAAF's decision to bring the world championships to the desert, where the highs in Doha are still hovering around 105 (38 Celsius) in the first full week of fall.

With Coleman out of the mix, the path gets clearer for American Noah Lyles, who has the world's leading time this year at 19.50 seconds. Canada's Andre De Grasse is expected to be in the mix, as will Divine Oruduru of Nigeria, the NCAA champion at both 100 and 200 meters.

After his victory, Coleman was hit with several questions about his whereabouts case.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency started a case, then later dropped it, after authorities determined Coleman had not violated a rule requiring athletes to keep current records of where they plan to be each day so they can be tested with no advance notice.

He insisted the fallout from the case hasn't soured his celebration.

"I feel pretty good," Coleman said. "I'm a gold medalist. Ran a personal best. Can't get any better than that."

Britain's Adam Gemili was fastest in the heats for the men's 200 meters after the champion in the 100, Christian Coleman, withdrew.

Gemili ran 20.06 seconds to win his heat, while Diamond League champion Noah Lyles of the United States qualified second in his heat 20.26.

Canada's Andre de Grasse, the bronze medalist in the 100, won his heat in 20.20. Defending champion Ramil Guliyev of Turkey also made it through.

NCAA champion Divine Oduduru was reinstated hours before the heats began after earlier being disqualified for a paperwork mix-up by the Nigerian team. He finished fourth in his heat but qualified as a fastest loser.

Fraser-Pryce heavy favorite after 100 semis

Shelley-Ann Fraser-Pryce will contest for her fourth world championship gold medal in the 100 meters after winning her semifinal with ease.

The Jamaican's time of 10.81 was the fastest across all three semifinals as she revealed a new rainbow-dyed hairstyle.

Dina Asher-Smith of Britain and Marie-Josee Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast won the other two heats, both in 10.87. Jamaica's Olympic champion Elaine Thompson qualified second behind AsherSmith in 11.00.

Olympic relay gold medalist English Gardner's championships ended with a thigh injury that caused the U.S. runner to pull up short. Gardner lay down and pounded the track with her fists before leaving in a wheelchair.

Defending champion Tori Bowie withdrew before the semifinals. No reason was given, but injuries have hampered her form over the last year.

Earlier, the United States team said defending champion Tori Bowie is out of the women's 100meter semifinals.

No reason has been given for the withdrawal of Bowie, who won the Olympic silver medal in the 100 in 2016.

Bowie qualified third from her heat Saturday in 11.30 seconds, more than half a second off her personal best. Bowie has struggled to recover her form since a quad muscle tear last year.

Meanwhile, Divine Oduduru and Blessing Okagbare will be given a spot at the starting line for the 200 meters at world championships.

Okagbare tells The Associated Press that track's governing body, the IAAF, has approved the appeal from the two Nigerians and reinstated them into the meet after a paperwork mix-up led to them being disqualified.

Nigeria's track federation had entered both runners in the 100meter races, even though neither intended to compete at that distance. When they didn't show up, IAAF rules called for them to be disqualified from the rest of the meet, including their main events, the 200, and the 4x100 relays.

But after learning more about the mix-up, an IAAF appeals panel reinstated them.

Oduduru, the NCAA champion out of Texas Tech, is scheduled to race later Sunday. Okagbare is the 2013 bronze medalist at 200 meters.