SAINT-DENIS, France — He may not have run the race he envisioned, but Noah Lyles did what was necessary to keep hope alive of pulling off an Olympic sprint double.
The American finished second in his men’s 200 meters semifinal heat on Wednesday night to advance to Thursday’s highly anticipated final.
Lyles sprang out of the blocks slowly, languished in third place as he came off the curve and never caught up to Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo. His time of 20.08 seconds was 12 hundredths of a second shy of Tebogo’s wining time and well shy of what he’ll need to run to win Thursday night’s final.
Lyles did not speak to media after the semifinal. He decided “to go straight to medical,” per a USA Track & Field spokesperson, who added she does not have further information at this time.
So far Lyles is following a similar pattern in the 200 prelims that he did this past weekend in the 100. He finished second in both rounds of heats in the 100 before coming up big when it mattered.
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 the closest-ever Olympic men’s 100, clocking a personal-best 9.784 seconds to edge Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson by five thousandths of a second.
It would be a surprise if the 200 final were quite so close.
Lyles has been almost unbeatable in his favorite race because the event reduces the impact of his sluggish starts and maximizes the qualities that make him special. 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.
If Lyles wins the 200, he’d be the first man since Bolt to complete the Olympic sprint double.
Besides Tebogo, the top challengers to Lyles in the 200 final Thursday night could be his fellow Americans. Kenny Bednarek, the 2021 Olympic silver medalist in the 200, won Wednesday night’s first semifinal heat in 20.0 seconds. Erriyon Knighton, still only 20, has won world championship medals in the 200 the past two years. He won his heat in 20.09.
When asked earlier this week how confident he felt about winning the men’s 200, Lyles grinned and said, “Pretty confident, can’t lie.”
Added Lyles, “When I come off the turn, they will all be depressed.”
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