Noah Lyles produced a dominating performance to retain his 200m title in 19.31sec at the world championships on Thursday, becoming the third-fastest athlete of all time over the distance and leading a second American sprint podium sweep.
Lyles, who won Olympic bronze in Tokyo, led at the halfway point and exploded through the finish, with his compatriots Kenny Bednarek (19.77) and 18-year-old Erriyon Knighton (19.80) battling out of the turn and down the straight for silver and bronze.
Lyles has not been satisfied with how quickly he has been getting out of the blocks in some of his races but said the first few metres were “the start of my life”.
“I was telling [Knighton] and Kenny: ‘I was glad y’all was behind me because y’all put the fear of God into my start,’” said Lyles.
He knew he had a clear path to the top of the podium when he did not feel Knighton behind him off the turn.
“After that I was like: ‘OK, I’m racing myself. Let’s go,’ which was my goal,” he said. “But I also had in the back of the head, in case he did try to pull up on me, I was going to be ready for it.”
Lyles ripped open his shirt after the finish as the home crowd in Eugene, Oregon, roared with approval, and offered an embrace to rival Knighton.
“Today is my day – I finally got to do what I dreamed of,” he said after breaking four-time Olympic champion Michael Johnson’s US national record, which had stood since 1996. “I’ve got my whole family here.”
Lyles’s time was initially displayed as 19.32, which would have tied Johnson’s record. However, it was then updated to an official 19.31 when his back was turned, with the 25-year-old clearly stunned when he noticed the new figure on the clock. Johnson later approached him to congratulate him on breaking the mark.
He was so wrapped up in the moment that Lyles said he was initially unaware of his margin of victory – or even which medals his teammates got.
“I didn’t know Erriyon got third until we walked up on the podium,” said Lyles.
Thursday’s race was the second 1-2-3 for US men in Eugene after Fred Kerley, Marvin Bracy and Trayvon Bromell swept the 100m. It is the first time any country has swept the two men’s sprints in the same year at the worlds.
It capped a remarkable turnaround from the Tokyo Olympics a year ago when the American men left without any individual track golds.
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Lyles said he had undergone a transformation as well, relearning how to love the sport after going through Tokyo with “a huge target” on his back.
“Every time I got on the track this year – I knew I wasn’t that same person anymore,” he said. “It was like I found my groove, I was enjoying track again. I was happy every day just to be running.”
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism