Noah Lyles toppled Kenneth Bednarek and Erriyon Knighton to win the men’s 200m at the 2024 US Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon on Saturday.
The two-time and reigning world champion – Lyles did not only win the race to make it sprint double having already won the 100m earlier in the week, but also clocked a world lead time [19.53] while breaking the existing Trials record set by Michael Johnson in 1996.
Kenny Bednarek [19.59, a personal best] finished second while, Erriyon Knighton snatched the third position from Christian Cole in 19.77 seconds.
“I felt like the first 10 meters were really good,” said Lyles, who did everything to chase down Bednarek for the win.
“I heard Christian [Coleman], saw Kenny and thought, ‘I’m not worried, I’ve been in this position many times.’
“By the time we got to the 80-meter mark I was like, ‘Yeah, I got this race in the bag, let’s finish this up.”
Despite being a six-time World champio, Noah Lyles could only settle for a bronze medal in the 200m at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan, a feat he’s hoping to swap for gold medal in Paris.
By James K. Attaglo Wilson
