Noah Lyles locked down the first major step in his quest for an Olympic sprint double Sunday, coming from behind to win the 100 meters at U.S. track trials in 9.83 seconds to qualify for that race in Paris.
Lyles overcame a slow start to match his personal best time. He beat 200-metre specialist Kenny Bednarek by 0.04 seconds. Fred Kerley, the 2022 world champion, finished in third and will also go to Paris.
Christian Coleman, the 2019 world champion, was in the lead with about 30 metres left but finished fourth.
The Lyles win makes the American sprint favourites after three days of these trials. It comes a day after Sha’Carri Richardson also lived up to expectations and won the women’s 100 to earn her trip to Paris.
“Part of the plan, nothing’s changed,” Lyles said after the win. “It might be a shock to everybody else but when you know the goal, you know the goal.”
This marks the first national title in the 100 metre for Lyles, who has long been a 200-metre specialist but who reimagined his goals after a disappointing third-place finish at the Tokyo Games in that race, then saw the work start paying off.
He won the world championship at 100, 200 and the 4x100 relay last year in Budapest. His 100 time on a cool, still night at Hayward Field matched the time he ran to win worlds.
If he can pull off the triple again, he would be in company with Usain Bolt, the Jamaican great who went 3 for 3 all three times he raced at the Olympics.
“If I didn’t get third place in Tokyo, I wouldn’t have that desire, wouldn’t have that fire burning, wouldn’t have accomplished what I accomplished in the past,” he said. “And now, I constantly look to the future with open eyes because anything can happen.”
Lyles, who races next weekend for a spot in the 200, might even be in the mix to win four medals. No. 4 could come in the 4x400, and if he does that, he would be in the company of the likes of Carl Lewis and even Jesse Owens.
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