Records are meant to be broken and Noah Lyles is making sure he shatters a few in his track career. The 26-year-old set a new mark for this year’s fastest time in the world in the 200 meters on Sunday.
Lyles took his electric speed to London for the Diamond League race in London over the weekend and set new marks. The two-time 200-meter world champ used every ounce of effort he had to edge Letsile Tebogo of Botswana and take down one of Usain Bolt’s records in the process.
Record Breaker
The photo finish race ended with Lyles beating Tebogo by three hundredths of a second. It also ended with Lyles breaking Bolt’s record of 34 sub-20 times in 200 meter races. His 19.47 seconds ran on Saturday marked his 35th time finishing a race in under 20 seconds.
The success in the 200-meter event is nothing new for Lyles. In July 2022, he ran the fourth-fastest time, 19.31, in the history of the sport. Bolt, who last competed in 2017, still has the record of 19.19, which he set in 2009.
In addition, Lyles also will have the chance to inch closer to one of Bolt’s other records. He could join the Jamaican legend as the only male sprinter to win the 200 in the World Championships more than twice if he secures another world title at Budapest in August. Lyles won in 2019 and 2022 as well as bronze in the event at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Photo Finish
As for the race, Lyles set a 2023-leading mark with a time of 19.47 seconds in the 200-meter event. The 20-year-old Tebogo, who was closing with every stride near the finish, ran 19.50. The two quickly took off from the pack and turned the field of eight contestants into a two-man sprint over the final 50 meters.
The American sprinter’s time was the 10th-best in history.
Now, the two-time world champ will look forward to inching closer to another one of Bolt’s records next month.
