At the Atlanta City Games, South African Akani Simbine won the 100 meters in a world-best record 9.90 seconds, while American Noah Lyles shined in the 150 meters.
On an improvised track, Simbine ran into a headwind and won by a tenth of a second over Kenyan Ferdinand Omanyala. American Kendal Williams came in third in 10.05.
The previous 100-meters record, set in April by American youngster Christian Miller, was surpassed by Simbine with a mere three hundredths of a second during the said event.
Lyles winning again
Moreover, world champion in the 100 and 200 meters Lyles proved dangerous in the infrequently ran 150-meter division, gaining ground in the second half and finishing a full second clear of Zharnel Hughes of Great Britain.
Lyles thanked his supporters and grinned broadly after the race, crediting his current form to his mental well-being. He expressed: “I ain’t got depression,” he told an on-track reporter. “Makes a big difference. Makes a huge difference. So I’m hyped, I’m excited, I come out here – I get excited when I see the fans.”
Lyles kept up a busy schedule for 2024, participating in the 100 meters at the Bermuda Grand Prix in April and then flying to the Bahamas earlier this month for the World Relays.
Bravo to South African sprinter Akani Simbine, who brought order back to track and field’s main event with a world-leading 9.90-second victory in the men’s 100 meters at the Atlanta City Games.
Christian Miller, a senior at a Florida high school who had held the record with 9.93 seconds in April, was eclipsed by his amazing race. To add to the early excitement, this season’s sub-10-second group also features rookie pro-Brandon Hicklin and former world junior champion Kendal Williams.
Although wind-legal results attest to their skill, elite sprinters have not yet produced the spectacular feats that were expected of them. Even though the Diamond League Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, is quickly approaching, American stars Fred Kerley and Christian Coleman haven’t produced particularly impressive 100-meter speeds.
Letsile Tebogo and Zharnel Hughes, the 2023 world medalists, have also not garnered much attention in the short sprints. Unexpectedly, these athletes haven’t published significant statistics as we approach the Olympic trials in late June.
Lyles Predicts An Impending Explosion
The world of elite men’s 100-meter sprinting may appear inactive as Memorial Day weekend draws near, but Noah Lyles’s explosive 150-meter race in Atlanta is a potent indicator of things to come.
With an astounding timing of 14.41 seconds, Lyles, who won the world 100/200 double in Budapest last summer and is currently the face of NBC’s pre-Olympic advertising campaign, tied Tyson Gay’s American record.
If the men’s 100m is like a volcano waiting to erupt, Lyles’s record-breaking run is the ominous cloud that suggests a wild season could be approaching.
Predicting a race’s outcome using information from nearby distances is a science and an art in equal measure, depending on the particular competitor and the circumstances of the event. Su Bingtian has captivated track statisticians since 2021 when he set a record for the fastest 60-meter split (6.29 seconds) in an Olympic 100-meter quarterfinal.
Su had a personal best time of 9.83 seconds to finish that race in 15th place overall, but his outstanding start pointed to a world record time. Ultimately, though, he falls behind speedier finishers in the end.
World champion Noah Lyles won the men’s 100-metre race in the US Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon, to guarantee his spot in this year’s Paris Olympics. The athlete crossed the finish line first in the finals and secured his ticket to France, tying his personal best time of 9.83 seconds.
Spinter Kenny Bednarek came in second with a time of 9.87 seconds—his personal best—and Fred Kerley was third with a season’s best of 9.88 seconds. Both athletes qualified for the Paris Olympics. They also took home a silver medal in the 100- and 200-metre events in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Lyles: “I wouldn’t have had that fire burning”
In his recent performances, Lyles, the current world champion in the 100, 200, and 4 x 100-metre relays, was not selected for the 100 metres in Tokyo after finishing ninth in the trials. Still, he qualified for the 200-metre competition and took home the bronze.
Lyles admitted: “Three years ago I got second to last. This year I came and won it… Part of the plan. Nothing changed. Might be a shock to everybody else, but when you know the goal, you know the goal.”
“If I didn’t get that third place in Tokyo, I wouldn’t have had that desire. I wouldn’t have had that fire burning. I wouldn’t have accomplished what I have accomplished in the past… Now we constantly look to the future with open eyes because anything can happen,” he added.
Lyles will also be trying to win the 200-metre race in which he won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.
The men’s 100-metre finals will be held on August 4 during the Paris Olympic Games, which will run from July 26 to August 11.
Noah Lyles just missed out on another top-of-the-podium finish in the men’s 100-metre race when Oblique Seville, a 23-year-old Jamaican, beat him to the finish line. With a final performance time of 9.82 seconds, Seville took the lead in the world standings, with Lyles coming in second with 9.85 seconds.
After his unexpected win, Seville declared: “I feel good. I’m a little surprised. It’s special to be able to run so fast without too much specific work. It shows that I can still do better.”
Following a victory in the 200-metre race at the Atlanta City Games and Velocity Fest 14, this was the young athlete’s first 100-metre contest of the season. In addition, Seville won the 400-metre race at the Jamaican Camperdown Classics.
Noah Lyles’s growing competition
In addition to the native talent, Lyles competed against Zharnel Hughes of Britain, Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala, and his own brother, Josephus. After Lyles defeated two of the best sprinters in the USA at the Jamaican Invitational last month, the competition has gained a lot of attention in the track and field world.
The 2019 100-metre world champion Christian Coleman also hinted that he would challenge Usain Bolt’s record, much as Noah hopes to take down the Jamaican sprinting legend by earning four gold medals at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Bolt won three — not four — gold medals at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, winning the 100 and 200 metres and the 4x100m relay with his team mates.
With so much at stake, fans could not ask for a more ideal venue on the banks of the Seine when Lyles competes for Olympic gold and glory.
Noah Lyles became the first American to clinch the Olympic gold in the men’s 100-metre in 20 years when he won the race in Paris by five-thousandths of a second.
Lyles, who won with a time of 9.784 seconds, finished barely ahead of Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson (who ran in 9.789) and the US’ Fred Kerley (whose time was 9.81).
“That’s probably one of the most beautiful races I’ve been in,” said Kerley.
In the photo finish, Kerley’s orange shoe crossed the line first. But it’s the chest breaking the barrier that counts. Lyles’ chest crossed first.
The race was so close that even the commentators nearly called the wrong winner before the photo finish, which showed Lyles was the first to lean over the finish line even though others managed to step over it before him.
According to Olympic rules, the first athlete whose torso reaches the closest edge of the finish line is the winner. That means the trunk of the body is what counts rather than the head, limbs or feet.
Closest 100m race since 1980 Moscow Olympics
It was the closest 100-metre final since at least Moscow in 1980. Great Britain’s Allan Wells won the gold in Moscow narrowly beating Cuba’s Silvio Leonard in 10.25 seconds in an era when timing didn’t go down to the thousandths of a second.
Lyles is the first American to win the 100 metres since Justin Gatlin in 2004.
Lyles’ only other Olympic medal is a bronze, which he earned in the 200-metre at the Tokyo Games three years ago.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics 100-metre champion, Marcell Jacobs of Italy, finished fifth with a time of 9.85 seconds.
Thompson, the betting favourite, said, “I’m going to be disappointed, but I’m super happy and grateful at the same time. I just got to take it as what it is and just move forward from here.”
Photo finish
Thompson seemed to be leading for much of the race.
‘’Through 30 metres, Lyles, 27, was last. He still trailed with 10 metres remaining and did not lead until his final steps, kicking past Kishane Thompson of Jamaica, who held the fastest time in the world this year,” reported the New York Times.
The race was so close that when the sprinters crossed the line and the word “Photo” popped up next to the names of Lyles, Thompson and five others in the eight-man field, Lyles walked over to the Jamaican and said, “I think you got the Olympics dog.”
Thompson wasn’t convinced. “I was, ‘Wow, I’m not even sure, because it was that close,’” he said.
When Lyles’ name came up first, he snatched his name tag off the front of his bib and held it aloft. Then he shouted at the TV camera, “America, I told you I got this!”
Noah Lyles, a three-time world champion, went closer to completing an Olympic sprint double by winning the men’s 200 metres with a personal best record at the US Olympic track and field trials.
The American sprinter ran 19.53 seconds at Hayward Field in Eugene, the quickest time of the year in the event. He also surpassed Michael Johnson’s trials mark of 19.66, which had held for 28 years. He initially broke that record by winning the semi-final with a performance record of 19.60 seconds, albeit the wind was just too strong for his time to be recorded.
The defending champion had a lot of work to do, but he passed Olympic silver medallist Kenny Bednarek, who finished second with a personal best of 19.59, in the final 50 metres of the run.
Erriyon Knighton, a twenty-year-old world silver champion, finished third in 19.77 seconds, earning the final Olympic slot in the event.
Lyles, the fastest man in the world
Lyles won the men’s 100 metres at the trials the previous week and made a name for himself as the fastest man in the world at last year’s world championships. He then won the 100 metres in a personal best time of 9.83 seconds before winning his third consecutive 200m title.
With his victories, the athlete admitted: “You claim you’re gonna go out there and win four medals, so the goal had to win the 100 metres and 200 metres. Job is accomplished… I’m right where I need to be.”
The American finished third in the 200 metres in the Tokyo Olympics but has since dominated the distance and will be a major favourite to take gold in the upcoming Paris Olympics in August.
In other related news, Gabby Thomas won the women’s 200 metres in 21.81 seconds, indicating that she could improve on her bronze medal from the Tokyo Olympics. It was the second-fastest time of the year after the 27-year-old ran a world-leading 21.78 in her semifinal.
Thomas declared: “I feel like everything’s coming together right where it needs to and I’ve done my job…Now we’re looking at the gold medal.”
