Photo Courtesy of Twitter (@LylesNoah)
Noah Lyles shattered Michael Johnson’s national record during the men’s 200-meter dash at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, on Thursday. He also led the U.S. to its second sprint sweep in six days.
The 25-year-old athlete reached the finish line at the 19.31-second mark, surpassing his best of 19.50 and breaking Johnson’s record of 19.32 seconds. Olympic silver medalist Kenny Bednarek came in second with 19.77 seconds, and 18-year-old Erriyon Knighton came in third with 19.80 seconds.
Lyles breaking Johnson’s record caught the former record holder by surprise and caused him to greet Lyles on the track, their first-time meeting.
Before the 200-meter sweep, the U.S. swept the 100-meter race when Fred Kerley, Marvin Bracy, and Trayvon Bromell won first, second and third place. It’s the first time in a long time that America had a sweeping win twice at the same world championship. The last time this happened was back in 2005 in Helsinki.
According to USA Today, Lyles commented
about how he felt like a “rock star” while competing in front of an American crowd.“Through all the rounds when we would go out, they’d be cheering our names, but gosh darn it, when us three walked, and they were already standing, already screaming our names out,” Lyles said. “You don’t hear that in Europe … they’re cheering for the countrymen. But we’re the countrymen here. And gosh darn it, that felt amazing.”
NPR reported that before Lyles saw his official time, he was devastated seeing the clock at 19.32 seconds, unofficially. The track star walked to the clock and stared at it.
He told reporters that he “was telling it to give me some slack” and asked, “How’s it going to show the same time, 19.32? Come on, change that.”
His world changed when he turned away, and the clock sliced one-hundredth of a second off the unofficial time to 19.31 with the word “official.”