Last Friday, Christian Coleman jump-started the professional indoor season with his 6.37 performance in the 60m. While there’s still uncertainty about whether or not the time will be ratified as an American and world record — there are different requirements for each — it signals that Coleman’s 2017 wasn’t an aberration. 

Not every sprinting great has run indoors. And the best 100m runners aren’t always the most dangerous at 60m. But Coleman debuting with a time faster than anyone in history speaks to how much the 21-year-old has progressed in just one year. It also opens up a world of possibilities: If you can run the fastest time in history in your opener, what else can you do?

WORLD RECORD!! 6.37s. Great start to my career. Thank You God?? pic.twitter.com/fUZQEpuPgw

— Christian Coleman (@__coleman) January 20, 2018

Coleman’s performance was the headline of the first truly busy weekend of the professional calendar. Here are the other results and news you need to know. 

The Highlights

Jamaica’s Natoya Goule ran 1:59.86 in the 800m at the Clemson Invitational. It took place at the same meet as Coleman’s run, so Goule's performance was a bit overshadowed. Although they are commonplace outdoors, sub-two-minute clockings in the women’s 800m indoors are quite rare. It only happened twice in 2017. In fact, Goule’s run at Clemson is only the sixth sub-two-minute performance since 2013. That’s a little bit more than five seasons of racing, and it’s only happened six times. On the strength of this performance alone, expect Goule to be in the mix for gold at the world indoor championships. 

Get your altitude conversion table ready — there were some impressive high altitude miles over the weekend.

Katie Mackey ran 4:35.50 for an easy win in 5300 feet at the Albuquerque Convention Center. Training partners Emma Coburn and Aisha Praught raced at 7,700 feet above sea level in Gunnison, Colorado. 

Coburn ran 4:38.08 and Praught went 4:41.6.

It was very ouch. But very fun. #7717ftofHurt https://t.co/lZZZnjXchC

— emma coburn (@emmajcoburn) January 21, 2018

Aries Merritt is two-for-two in 2018. He won the Larry Wieczorek Invitational 60m hurdles in 7.54 in Iowa City. Merritt says he feels the healthiest he's been since the beginning of 2013, and that statement is playing out on the track. The 7.54 is an improvement over his winning time from the UW Indoor Open and brings him closer to his lifetime best in the event of 7.43. 

In other hurdle news, Devon Allen made his 2018 debut, stringing together two sub-7.60 performances in Albuquerque. Allen ran 7.58 in the prelims and 7.59 in the final. 

Comings & Goings

Matthew Centrowitz is moving to the East Coast. He’s still with the Nike Oregon Project, but will live in the D.C. area and have his workouts administered by his father. Centrowitz’s move means that he won’t be training on a frequent basis with Clayton Murphy and Craig Engels — two ascendent stars of American middle distance running who joined the Nike Oregon Project last fall. The three made for a formidable trio, maybe the best 1-2-3 from any training group in any one event (assuming Murphy ran the 1500m and not the 800m).

Centrowitz also announced last week that he is skipping the indoor season in the United States and will instead race outdoors in Australia.

More Nike Oregon Project news: Eric Jenkins has scratched from the Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games. Nick Willis, Will Leer, Kyle Merber, Charlie Grice, Robby Andrews, Ben Blankenship, and Chris O’Hare are still entered. It’s still a strong field, but Willis’s quest to win his first Millrose becomes a bit more doable with the absence of Jenkins. 

Also at Millrose, Charlene Lipsey, Ajee Wilson, Chrishuna Williams, and Raevyn Rogers will team up to run the women’s 4x800m. How fast can they run? Here’s the group’s best times indoors:

Ajee Wilson: 1:58.27 

Charlene Lipsey: 1:58:64

Raevyn Rogers: 2:00.90

Chrishuna Williams: 2:02:95

Together that equals 8:00.76. The American indoor record of 8:24.72 is certainly gone. The overall American record of 8:00.62 would require all four to run at, or near, their personal bests. The sweet spot might be the world indoor record. A group from Russia currently holds that mark with an 8:06.24 clocking from 2011. 

Road Announcements 

While the focus was on the track, there were some important marathon announcements. Kenenisa Bekele will join Mo Farah and Eliud Kipchoge at the London Marathon. Bekele did not finish in Berlin this fall, but took the runner-up spot to Kipchoge last year in London. 

Multiple-time gold medalist Meseret Defar of Ethiopia will make her marathon debut in Tokyo on February 25. Defar had a long, successful career on the track that included world records and 15 championship medals. The longest distance she’s competed at is a half marathon where she's run 1:06:09. 

American Amy Hastings is also entered. This will be her first race since she took third at the world championships last August. Wilson Kipsang will defend his title and headline the men’s race.