By Jake Willard
A win at the Prefontaine Classic was nice for Ronnie Baker, but the world indoor bronze medalist, who wears a chain with an emblem for The Flash, has much bigger goals in mind.
“My goal is to be the fastest guy in the world,” he said. “I’m super into superheroes, and The Flash is kind of my idol as far as superheroes go.”
Baker, who admitted he is more of a Marvel guy and loves Iron Man, took down a field that included the reigning world indoor gold and silver medalists Christian Coleman and Su Bingtian. He won the 100 meters in 9.78 seconds and if the wind would have cooperated, his time would have put him in the top 30 all-time.
After earning world indoor bronze earlier this year and defending his Pre Classic 100 title Saturday, the American believes that his name should be in the conversation more. “It would be nice to see my name in an article once in a while,” he said.
Coleman, who ran 9.84 for second place in his season debut, is coming off a right hamstring injury that caused him to drop out of the Shanghai Diamond League two weeks ago. “I’ve gotten a lot of treatment this week. It feels a little bit different,” he said. “But no excuses, you know. I got out on the line, so I was ready to go.”
Coleman finished just .06 behind Baker, and he was not surprised by the winner’s performance. “We were pretty much even the whole way. He just pulled away from me the last 80 or 90 meters,” Coleman said. “Ronnie is a great runner, good competitor, and I’m looking forward to running races with him.”
Baker was also not surprised by his performance. “I really think I executed really well the first 30 meters of my race,” he said. “I just went through and executed my race just like I do in practice, and stayed relaxed.”
Working with coach Darryl Anderson, Baker has been paying extra attention to his start. “We go through and analyze each race, and we try to pick out one thing that I need to work on. So far it has been opening up my stride with my arms in my first 30 meters,” Baker said. He saw the benefits at Hayward Field.
Baker looks to better his standing May 31 in the Rome Diamond League, where he will again face Coleman and Bingtian in the 100. He will be a big part of the conversation in that race.
