Akani Simbine made a triumphant return to the global stage in Suzhou, near Shanghai, on Saturday night by defeating two former world champions to secure his eighth Diamond League 100m victory.
The former African record holder showed superior top-end speed to pull away from the two men on his inside dipping in a winning time of 10.01 seconds.
Simbine had some work to do running shoulder-to-shoulder with Kerley and trailing a flying Coleman.
The Olympic finalist found the next gear chasing Coleman down to take the victory to match his season’s best from the South African national championships.
“I knew the field here would be strong but I just had to replicate what I did last week at the South African Championships,” Simbine said after the race.
“This has built a lot of confidence leading into the Olympic year. This helps build momentum, which I hope to build on further as the season progresses.”
Fred Kerley, the 2022 world champ, was third in 10.11, with Emmanuel Eseme of Cameroon fourth and Jamaican Ackeem Blake fifth.
Simbine won his first Diamond League race in 2017 and he’s won at least one a year since 2019.