Eugene (United States) (AFP) – Noah Lyles laid down a world championship marker with a blistering 200m victory at the US trials in Oregon on Sunday as Melissa Jefferson-Wooden completed a sprint double in the women’s event. The final day of action at Eugene’s Hayward Field saw Lyles come from behind to win a testy battle with Kenny Bednarek in a world-leading 19.63 seconds. After edging in front of Bednarek just before the line, Lyles turned his head to stare down his rival as he took the tape. That drew an angry response from Bednarek, who shoved the reigning 100m and 200m world champion as the two men slowed down after the finish.
Lyles, the Olympic 100m champion who already had a bye into September’s Worlds in Tokyo, refused to be drawn on his spat with Bednarek. “Under coach’s orders, no comment,” Lyles said afterwards. But Bednarek, a double Olympic 200m silver medallist, was more expansive. “What he said doesn’t matter, it’s just what he did,” Bednarek said, referring to Lyles’ finish-line stare. “That’s unsportsmanlike shit, and I don’t deal with that …I don’t deal with any of that stuff. It’s not good character,” added Bednarek, who took second in a season’s best 19.67 seconds.
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In the women’s sprints meanwhile, Jefferson-Wooden signalled she could well be the woman to beat in Tokyo after completing her 100m-200m double, winning the 200m in 21.84 seconds, with Anavia Battle second in 22.12 seconds. Olympic 200m champion Gabby Thomas just squeaked into the Tokyo squad, finishing third in a photo finish with Brittany Brown. “As long as I’m executing my race the way I know I can, then the times are going to continue to come,” Jefferson-Wooden said. “And 21.84 I’ll take.”
While Jefferson-Wooden is looking forward to Tokyo, Sha’Carri Richardson will only compete in the 100m at the World Championships. Richardson, arrested for domestic violence last week following a clash with boyfriend Christian Coleman, failed to qualify for the 200m final. Coleman also failed to qualify in the 200m, but will go to Tokyo as part of the US relay pool. Elsewhere Sunday, Olympic 400m hurdles champion Rai Benjamin coasted to victory in 46.89 seconds to seal his spot in Tokyo.
In the women’s 400m hurdles, 35-year-old 2016 Olympic champion Dalilah Muhammad rolled back the years with a victory in 52.65 seconds, setting up what will be an emotional farewell in Japan in her final season before retirement. In one of the races of the day, former world champion Donavan Brazier capped a sensational return to form with a battling victory in the 800m. Brazier won gold at the World Championships in Doha in 2019, but subsequently saw his career blown off course by multiple injuries which required surgery. He only returned to racing this season after a three-year absence from the track.
The 28-year-old left that injury nightmare firmly in the rearview mirror on Sunday, though, punching through a gap in the final straight to take the tape in a personal best of 1 minute 42.16 seconds, just ahead of 16-year-old Cooper Lutkenhaus, who took second. Lutkenhaus’s time of 1:42.27 was a new under-18 world record. Bryce Hoppel was third in 1:42.49. “The past few years have been really rough for me,” Brazier said. “To finally have a chance at redemption, and just showcase resiliency — I was really happy to do it today. It was just pure grit.”
In the women’s 800m final, former Under-20 world champion Roisin Willis reached her first major championships with a battling victory in 1 minute 59.26 seconds. Willis finished ahead of Maggi Congdon (1:59.39), with Sage Hurta-Klecker third in 1:59.48. In the 110m hurdles, Ja’Kobe Tharp won in 13.01 seconds. Olympic and world champion Grant Holloway, who has a bye to the world championships, scratched from the final. In the women’s pole vault, three-time world championships silver medallist Sandi Morris edged reigning world champion Katie Moon into second place with a winning height of 4.83m.
© 2024 AFP
