MAYBE IT WAS an act, maybe not. But Noah Lyles entered the meet playing the role of the champion-to-be, stating as much in a press conference after defending champion Fred Kerley remarked, “If Noah’s going to run 9.65, then I’m running faster.”
Lyles retorted, “That’s what they all say till they get beat.”
Yet when the finalists lined up, Kerley didn’t have a lane. He had finished 3rd in his semi in 10.02, missing the Big Dance by a mere 0.01.
There were few major casualties in the heats, most notably U.S. champion Cravont Charleston, whose 10.18 missed advancing by 0.01. The semis were uniformly fast. A showboating Lyles took the first in 9.87, just a hundredth off his PR. Japan’s Abdul Hakim Sani Brown followed in 9.97 and Ferdinand Omanyala got the last time qualifier in 10.01. Olympic champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs finished 5th in 10.05.
Semi II also produced three finalists, Christian Coleman (9.88) leading Zharnel Hughes (9.93) and Jamaican Ryiem Forde (9.95); South African Akani Simbine false-started. The third saw the demise of Kerley, who placed 3rd behind Oblique Seville (9.90) and Botswana’s World Junior champion Letsile Tebogo (9.98).
Kerley was brusque and to the point as he passed through the mixed zone: “I f’ed up.” His absence from the final still left Lyles to face a field full of legit contenders. Three had PRs faster than his 9.86: 4-time finalist Coleman at 9.76 in lane 4, African champion Omanyala at 9.77 in lane 9, and ’22 bronze medalist Zharnel Hughes at 9.83 in lane 5. Experienced eyes also watched Seville (7), who had PRed in his heat at 9.86, and Tebogo (3).
In lane 6, Lyles seemed ready. The wind, completely still. At the gun, he got out well, though not as fast as Coleman. Indeed, the ’19 champion led for the first third of the race before he was tagged by Tebogo and Lyles. As the phalanx of contenders approached the final meters, only Lyles managed to edge ahead. He hit the line in an =WL PR 9.83, perhaps a foot ahead of his pursuers.
They came in a rush, the next three all clocking 9.88s. For silver medalist Tebogo, it was a national record (9.873); Hughes got bronze (9.874) — and some couldn’t help but notice WA head Seb Coe celebrating by pumping his fist. Left off the podium by just 0.003 was Seville. Coleman came across 5th in 9.92.
“I knew what I had to…
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