FONTVIEILLE, MONACO, July 11 — A relatively late entry in Monaco’s DL, Noah Lyles said he had to wait for the right time to open up his season over 200m. “I have been missing competing for the last few weeks,” he said. “I was watching Prefontaine and I wanted to be there, but we wanted first to make sure that I am healthy and fully able to compete.”
He timed it right, proving he will once again be the man to beat by taking on Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo and coming out on top in their first matchup since Paris. Tebogo got out best and ran an inspired turn, entering the straight even with Lyles, who was on the outside. For a while, it looked as though either could win, then the American summoned more power near the finish. Tebogo, sensing defeat, let up in the final steps.
Lyles 19.88 into a 0.8 wind; Tebogo 19.97, barely holding off Zimbabwe’s Makanakaishe Charamba, who sprinted 19.99 fresh off his collegiate season for Auburn.
Said Lyles, who had not raced since a 400m outing on April 19, “I put myself in the fire for that one coming back against Tebogo. I didn’t feel any pressure.”
Much of the pre-meet hype had focused on the 800, which brought together 5 of the 7 fastest men of all time. While it may not have turned out to be the race that some had hoped, Emmanuel Wanyonyi showed he is the man of the moment. Following the pacemaker through 400 in 49.21, he built an unassailable margin, with Olympic rival Marco Arop far back in the pack.
In the final stages, the only real challenger was American Josh Hoey, who was 4th at halfway but charged hard through the last lap and looked like he had a chance to catch Wanyonyi on the final stretch. The Kenyan held on, however, taking the win in a world-leading 1:41.44.
Said Wanyonyi, “I came to run a season’s best and a meeting record. I came prepared. I gave my best today, so I am happy with the result.”
Hoey held on to cross in 1:42.01, becoming the No. 2 American ever, finishing ahead of the fast close of Djamel Sedjati (1:42.20) and Peter Bol’s Australian record 1:42.55.
“I tried to stick to Wanyonyi as much as I could,” said Hoey. “I died about 20–30m from the line, so I just kind of tried to keep rolling and finish the race from there.”
A powerful quartet of Americans filled the middle lanes in the 110H and nearly…
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