American Noah Lyles on Friday became the fourth-fastest man in history over 200m with a stunning Diamond League victory in 19.50 seconds at Lausanne.
The 21-year-old was expected to face a close challenge from Andre de Grasse, but the Canadian was left trailing in third as Lyles laid down a serious marker ahead of September’s World Championships in Doha.
“Oh my God, would it be crazy if I said yes?” Lyles said when asked if he expected to run so fast. “The Worlds — I’ve been waiting for this since 2017, for so long, but I have no pressure as I have never participated in a big championship.”
Only world record holder Usain Bolt (19.19 seconds), his fellow Jamaican Yohan Blake (19.26 seconds) and four-time Olympic gold medal winner Michael Johnson (19.32 seconds) have run quicker.
Lyles will now have the US Track and Field Championships, which run from July 25 to 28 in Iowa, in his sights.
“I was even disappointed that the trials are postponed until July [from last month],” he said. “It makes we wait even more and I want to show that I’m the best.”
Two-time Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce powered to a dominant victory in the 100m to confirm her return to the upper echelons of sprinting, while reigning world champion Justin Gatlin won the men’s race.
The 32-year-old Jamaican, on the comeback trail after taking time away from the sport to give birth to her son, clocked 10.74 seconds to beat European champion Dina Asher-Smith in second.
She won the 100m gold medals at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, before having to settle for bronze behind compatriot Thompson in Rio de Janeiro three years ago.
Fraser-Pryce is to be a contender for a medal at Worlds if she can maintain this form.
US veteran Gatlin proved he is still capable of defending his world 100m title later this year with a second consecutive Diamond League win.
The controversial 37-year-old, who has twice served doping bans in his career, claimed victory in 9.92 seconds.
Earlier, Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser made it four women’s 400m victories from as many Diamond League races this year.
Nigerien Aminatou Seyni pushed her all the way, but Naser won in 49.17 seconds, smashing the previous Lausanne record of 49.45 seconds set in 1996.
Seyni was a relatively unknown just two weeks ago, but has since improved her personal best by an incredible one-and-a-half seconds.
Ethiopian Hagos Gebrhiwet suffered an embarrassing mishap during men’s 5,000m, crossing the line with his arms raised in celebration — but with a lap still remaining.
His compatriot Yomif Kejelcha took full advantage, showing little sympathy to take the victory in 13 minutes, 0.56 seconds as Gebrhiwet was forced to settle for 10th.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite