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PARIS — Only an hour removed from achieving Olympic 100 meters glory by the narrowest possible margin, American sprinting sensation Noah Lyles had already begun looking ahead toward his next potential moment of triumph.
When asked how confident he felt about winning the men’s 200 later this week to complete the Olympic sprint double, Lyles grinned and said, “Pretty confident, can’t lie.”
Hinting that he views fellow American Kenny Bednarek as his most formidable challenger, Lyles brought up the 200 finals at Olympic Trials earlier this summer. Bednarek “definitely woke me up,” Lyles said, when he charged out of the blocks, ran a personal-best time and led until the race’s final 20 meters.
“My job is to make sure that …” Lyles said before changing his mind and insisting he was going to leave it at that. Lyles might have resisted the urge to say more had fellow Olympic 100 meters bronze medalist Fred Kerley not been sitting next to Lyles at the podium.
“Talk your s***, man,” Kerley said with a grin.
“That man ain’t winning,” Lyles said of Bednarek. “None of them is winning. When I come off the turn, they will all be depressed.”
Pre-race jabs from Lyles should be nothing new to Bednarek or the other leading contenders in the 200. Lyles, after all, has spent months telling anyone who will listen that he intends to take home four gold medals from Paris. Recently, he confidently declared to AFP, “I beat everyone I touch.”
On Sunday night, on Stade de France’s distinctive purple track, Lyles backed up his big talk and reaffirmed his claim to the title of World’s Fastest Man. He won America’s first gold medal in the men’s 100 in 20 years, running a personal-best 9.78 seconds to overtake Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson just a step or two before the finish line.
That may have been the rest of the world’s best chance to humble Lyles because he has been nearly unbeatable in the 200. The event reduces the impact of his sluggish starts and maximizes his talents. He holds his speed as well as any sprinter since Usain Bolt, typically enabling him to swallow up anyone in front of him as he rounds the curve and streaks toward the finish line.
The other sprinters who have the best chance to push Lyles include Bednarek and Erriyon Knighton, the two other Americans in the field. Bednarek is the 2021 Olympic silver medalist in the 200. Knighton, still only 20, has won world championship medals in the 200 the past two years.
“Just know that every single time I step on the track, I’m always a threat,” Bednarek said Saturday.
Source Agencies
