SAINT-DENIS, France — He may not have run the race he envisioned, but Noah Lyles did what it took to keep hopes alive for an Olympic sprint double.
The American finished second in the men’s 200m semi-final on Wednesday night to advance to the highly anticipated final on Thursday.
Lyles was slow out of the blocks, languishing in third place as he came out of the turn and never overtaking Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo. His time of 20.08 seconds was 12 hundredths of a second off Tebogo’s winning time and well short of what he needs to win Thursday night’s final.
Lyles did not speak to the media after the semifinals, deciding to “go straight to medical,” a USA Track & Field spokesperson said, adding that they had no further information at this time.
So far, Lyles is following a similar pattern in the 200 prelims as he did last weekend in the 100. He finished second in both heats of the 100 before coming out on top when it mattered.
On Sunday night, on the striking purple track of the Stade de France, Lyles backed up his big words and cemented his claim to the title of world’s fastest man. He won the closest ever men’s 100m at the Olympics with a personal best of 9.784 seconds, beating Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson by five thousandths of a second.
It would be a surprise if the 200m final were this exciting.
Lyles is nearly unbeatable in his favorite race because the event minimizes the impact of his slow starts and maximizes the qualities that make him special. He maintains his speed as well as any sprinter since Usain Bolt, which allows him to typically swallow everyone in front of him as he rounds the corner and sprints toward the finish line.
If Lyles wins the 200 meters, he will be the first man since Bolt to complete the Olympic sprint double.
Besides Tebogo, Lyles’ biggest challengers in the 200 final on Thursday night could be his fellow countrymen. Kenny Bednarek, the 2021 Olympic silver medalist in the 200, won the first semifinal on Wednesday night in 20.0 seconds. Erriyon Knighton, still only 20, has won world championship medals in the 200 for the past two years. He won his heat in 20.09.
When asked earlier this week how confident he was of winning the men’s 200 meters, Lyles grinned and said, “Pretty confident, I can’t lie.”
Lyles added: “When I come off the tee, they’re all going to be depressed.”
