Noah Lyles Breaks Usain Bolt's 200-Meter Meet Record in Lausanne

By Adam Kopet

Noah Lyles raised the bar in the 200 meters Friday at the Lausanne Diamond League meeting. He became the fourth fastest 200-meter runner of all-time with his 19.50 clocking.

RESULTS

Lyles came into the race looking to raise his own performance after he finished a close second to Michael Norman in the 200 meters at the Rome Diamond League meeting. That had been Lyles' first loss over the distance since the 2016 Olympic Trials where he finished fourth in a high school record.

As a fan of anime, Lyles opted to go "Plus Ultra" in Friday's competition with his socks, a reference to the anime and manga My Hero Academia.

My socks keep yelling at me
“It’s time to go Plus Ultra” #MyHeroAcadamia pic.twitter.com/4QlLVJnLcC

— Noah Lyles (@LylesNoah) July 5, 2019

The socks seemed to work, as he broke Usain Bolt's 2012 meet record. It was the fastest time run since Bolt's 19.32 clocking at the 2012 Olympics and ranks him fourth on the all-time performer list. Only Bolt, Yohan Blake and Michael Johnson have run faster.

Lyles ran a good turn, but it was the straight where he separated himself from the competition. He powered away from the field to win by 0.37 seconds. Ecuador's Alex Quinonez was pulled to a national record 19.87. Canada's Andre De Grasse finished third in 19.92.

The women's 100 meters was won in equally dominant fashion as Jamaica's Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce stormed away from the competition to win in 10.74. That is only 0.01 seconds off her season's best and is the eighth time she equaled or bettered 10.75, tying American Marion Jones for the most all-time.

Finishing behind Fraser-Pryce, who has run under 10.75 twice in a season for the first time since 2013, was Great Britain's Dina Asher-Smith in 10.91. Marie-Josee Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast finished third in 10.93.

The men's pole vault went to a jump-off to determine the winner as both Sam Kendricks and Poland's Piotr Lisek kept clean cards through 19-6.25 (5.95m). However, jumping at 19-8.50 (6.01m), neither jumper could go clear, leaving them in a tie for the lead.

Pole vault rules generally dictate that a tie at the top leads to a jump-off. Each athlete was given another chance at 19-8.50. Lisek jumped first and he went clear for an absolute personal best. Kendricks opted not to take his jump and bowed out of the competition.

France's Renaud Lavillenie and Sweden's Armand "Mondo" Duplantis tied for third, clearing a best of 19-0.75 (5.81m). Duplantis took one jump at 19-3.50 (5.88m), but then passed until the bar went up to 19-8.50, where he used his two remaining jumps. He did not go clear.

The men's 5,000 meters provided an exciting finish. After a strong early pace with the help of the pacemakers, the runners slowed as they sized each other up for the final sprint finish. With 700 meters to go, Ethiopia's Hagos Gebrhiwet bolted to the front, sprinting away from the field.

Compatriot Yomif Kejelcha of the Nike Oregon Project tried to cover the big move, but even he was outmatched by the pace Gebrhiwet put down. However, as Gebrhiwet reached the bell, he raised his fist in triumph and jogged into the outside lanes. He had thought he had won, but there was still a lap remaining.

It was not until Kejelcha continued past him that Gebrhiwet realized his mistake and reentered the race. Kejelcha would hold onto the lead and win in 13:00.56. Ethiopia's Selemon Barega finished second in 13:01.99. Paul Chelimo, who nearly pulled off the win at the Prefontaine Classic last week, finished sixth in a season's best 13:05.70. Gebrhiwet faded to 10th in 13:09.59.

If the 5,000 meters was plagued by a slow pace, the opposite occurred in the 1,500 meters. Kenya's Timothy Cheruiyot followed the pacemakers as they set off on world record pace. The pacemaker reached 800 meters in 1:49.41.

Running the final 500 meters alone, Cheruiyot did his best to push himself to the finish line. He won in a meet record and world-leading 3:28.77, just off his personal best. Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen used a strong kick to propel him into second with a personal-best 3:30.16. In all, six men bettered the previous world-leading time of 3:32.21.

Starting off the Diamond League track action Friday, Bahrain's Salwa Eid Naser became the third athlete to break 50.00 in the 400 meters this year. She ran a strong race, but she was challenged in the final 100 meters by Nigeria's Aminatou Seyni. Naser held off the competition to win in 49.17. Seyni was second in 49.19. They are ranked second and third in the world this year, respectively.

In the 400-meter hurdles, Shamier Little came off the final hurdle with gusto, powering to the finish line to win in 53.73, placing her third on the world list this year. Only Dalilah Muhammad and Sydney McLaughlin have run faster this year. McLaughlin's top mark came earlier this week at a meet in Marseille, France. Zuzana Hejnova of the Czech Republic and Ashley Spencer finished second and third, respectively, with both running 54.11.