After having somewhat of an average season and being overshadowed by fellow American Erriyon Knighton, Noah Lyles used the 200m finals at the Oregon World Championship as his own coming out party. The twenty-five-year-old who was heralded as the next great American 200m specialist following the exploits of Jamaica’s Usain Bolt, clocked a scintillating 19.31 seconds to win the men’s 200m finals on home soil. Lyles’s 19.31 performance now places him in third place on the all-time list behind the Jamaican duo of Bolt (19.19) and Yohan Blake (19.26).
Loaded field
Facing a loaded field that included teen sensation Erriyon Knighton, Kenny Bednarek, Liberia’s Joseph Fahnbulleh, Dominica Republic Alexander Ogando, Trinidad and Tobago’s Jeremey Richards, Canada’s Arron Brown, and South Africa’s Lobolo Adams, Lyles entered the final with a lifetime best 19.50 which he established in 2019 and a season best 19.61 that he ran at the NYC Grand Prix at the Ichan Stadium, in New York on June 12. However, it was Knighton who received all the press when he ran a superb 19.49 seconds at the LSU Invitational on April 30.
American record falls
Lyles who was ultra-hyped during his pre-race, used that energy to take control of the race at the outset. Lyles was in the lead coming off the curve and continue to separate himself from the rest of the field as he pushed with excellent strides and arm movement. No one had an answer for Lyles who stop the clock at 19.31, breaking the 26-year-old American record of 19.32 set by Michael Johnson back in 1996. Kenny “Kung Fu” Bednarek finished in second place in a season best 19.77 while Knighton was third in 19.80 to complete the sweep for the Americans.
How fast can Lyles go?
Lyles’s performance has indeed placed Bolt’s 19.19 world record on notice. At 25, Lyles has the time and talent to continue to chip away at the record. Knighton has shown that the is a worthy competitor and with time and experience he will certainly continue to push Lyles to go faster.
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O’Neil A Reid
Edited by Raymond Byfield
Noah Lyles photo courtesy of www.sourceathletics.com
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