U.S. Track & Field Trials: Noah Lyles advances in pursuit of four Olympic gold medals

EUGENE, Ore. — Noah Lyles’ ambitious goal of winning four Olympic gold medals is becoming more feasible.

The accomplished American sprinter continues to back up his confident claims with outstanding performances in major races.

Lyles maintained his aspiration for a sprint double at the Olympics on Saturday night, coming from behind to win the 200 meters final at the U.S. track and field trials. His world-leading time of 19.53 seconds broke a 28-year-old U.S. Olympic Trials record and was just over two-tenths of a second shy of the American record he set at the 2022 World Championships.

“If you claim you’re going to win four medals, the goal is to win the 100 and 200,” Lyles said. “So the job is accomplished.”

The 200 meters final mirrored Lyles’ victory in the 100 meters at the Olympic Trials six days earlier. His toughest competition came from “Kung Fu” Kenny Bednarek, the often-overlooked former Olympic silver medalist who is having a career-best season in both short sprints.

Lyles said his plan was to “swallow [Bednarek] up” in the first 50 meters, but the race unfolded differently. Bednarek opened a substantial gap over Lyles as they rounded the turn and powered down the final straightaway.

“After we came off the turn, I told myself, ‘All right, don’t panic,'” Lyles said. “I’ve been in this situation many times before. We’ll get to the last 80 meters, he’ll slow down, and I’ll pick up speed.”

Bednarek achieved a personal best of 19.59 seconds and secured his spot in the 200 meters for Paris, but he couldn’t fend off Lyles as his muscles tightened near the finish line. Despite this, Bednarek remains hopeful for a different result if they meet again in the Olympic final.

“I’m healthy and dangerous,” Bednarek said. “That’s all I can ask for.”

When asked what “dangerous” meant, Bednarek replied, “It means they should all fear me. I’ve shown the world that I have a lot left in me and more to give.”

Joining Lyles and Bednarek in qualifying for Paris was Erriyon Knighton, who finished third with a time of 19.77 seconds. This was a notable performance from Knighton, considering he hadn’t competed in months before the Trials.

On April 12, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency provisionally suspended Knighton after he tested positive for a metabolite of trenbolone during an out-of-competition drug test. It wasn’t until June 20 that an independent arbiter cleared Knighton to return to competition, determining that the failed drug test was “more likely than not” caused by contaminated meat.

When asked about the stress of the positive test, Knighton said, “It wasn’t really stressful at all because I knew I never did anything wrong.” He was confident he could make the U.S. Olympic team in the 200 despite limited racing this season prior to the Trials.

“It just shows what kind of athlete I am,” Knighton said. “I can always step on the track at any given time and in any shape I’m in and compete at the highest level.”

Christian Coleman, the 60-meter specialist, was the unfortunate fourth-place finisher, running 19.89 seconds in both the semifinals and finals but missing the Olympics by just one spot, similar to his result in the 100 meters final at Trials last Sunday.

Lyles described his record-setting 19.53-second time as an “average” performance for him. He aims to achieve times in the 19.4s and 19.3s before the summer ends. These times might be necessary to keep his dream of four gold medals alive, a feat no man, not even the legendary Usain Bolt, has accomplished.

At last year’s world championships, Lyles won the sprint treble, taking gold in the men’s 100 and 200 meters and anchoring the U.S. men’s 4×100-meter relay team to victory. Lyles hopes USA Track & Field will allow him to compete in the 4×400-meter relay as well this summer.

“I haven’t started negotiations yet,” Lyles said. “Let’s just say it will be hard. But I’m going to let them know that I’m available and ready to go.”