Noah Lyles will have a shot at redemption after winning the men’s 200-meter on Saturday at the U.S. Olympic track & field trials in Eugene, Ore.
Lyles took bronze in the event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics — which were held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic — and now has a shot to top that performance at this summer’s Paris Games. He finished in 19.53 on Saturday, besting Kenny Bednarek (19.59) and Erriyon Knighton (19.77), who came in second and third, respectively.
“I felt like the first 10 meters were really good,” Lyles said. “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.’”
Gabby Thomas came in first in the women’s 200m, with her time of 21.81 edging second-place finisher Brittany Brown’s 21.90 and third-place finisher McKenzie Long’s 21.91.
Sha’Carri Richardson, who won the 100m race at trials, came in fourth with a 22.16.
“I came out just thinking, I need to make top three,” Thomas said. “There were so many nerves going on in the moment. I can breathe now. … Everything’s coming together right when it needs to, and now we’re looking to a gold medal (in Paris).”
Six other finals were contested on Saturday, including both the men’s and women’s 20K racewalk. With a time of 1:24:46, Nick Christie prevailed for the men, while Robyn Stevens came out on top for the women, posting a 1:37:38.
In the men’s discus throw, Andrew Evans used a 66.61-meter toss to take first. Chase Jackson’s 20.10-meter heave was enough to win the women’s shot put.
Weini Kelati finished the women’s 10,000m in 31:41.07 to edge Parker Valby (31:41.56), who came in second.
–Field Level Media