New York (AFP) – Noah Lyles said rest and rehydration would put him right after cramp prompted him to pull up in the 200m final at the US athletics championships, a disappointment that only increased his admiration for Jamaican sprint great Usain Bolt.
On a steamy Sunday at New York’s Icahn Stadium, Lyles’ bid for a second US sprint double to go with the one-two he pulled off in 2024 ended when he slowed suddenly then jogged to the finish area in the 200m won by Garrett Kaalund. “Yeah I got it around the turn, my hamstring just grabbed on me and I’m like, yeah, there’s no reason to keep pushing that. I just decided to cut it off. It’s just cramp. I’ve got some electrolytes here, I’m going to chug them down. I’m going to rest.”
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Lyles, the Paris Olympics 100m gold medallist and a four-time world champion at 200m, said he didn’t realize how much of a toll his 100m triumph on Friday had taken. He clocked a world-leading 9.79sec in the final, matching his personal best after posting a wind-aided 9.76 in the semi-finals. “Running two 9.7s in one day is kind of crazy,” Lyles said. “I think I underestimated how fast I really was.”
He said it was a valuable learning experience with a home Olympics looming at Los Angeles in 2028. “I wanted to push myself to make sure I knew what it felt like to try and get up the next day and run,” he said. “Because if this happens at the Olympics, I need to be ready for it.” This does show me what it takes to keep going. Kind of (gives you) perspective of how great Bolt was,” he added of the Jamaican sprint titan who won the 100m and 200m at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2012 London Games, and the Rio games in 2016.
© 2024 AFP
