Noah Lyles ties Usain Bolt mark for consistency, then reveals deeper meaning
NEW YORK — It's an obscure milestone. Noah Lyles will be the first to admit that.
With his winning time of 19.83 seconds Saturday at a meet in New York, Lyles ran 200 meters in less than 20 seconds for the 34th time as a pro − which, according to NBC Sports, matches the previous record set by Jamaican legend Usain Bolt.
In the insular world of track and field, where greatness is defined by who runs the fastest time once, records about consistency are essentially nothingburgers. But for Lyles, the reigning world champion and American record-holder in the event, touting the mark was a way to elevate what was otherwise a comfortable and fairly straightforward victory for him at the USATF NYC Grand Prix, before a packed stadium on Randall's Island.
This one wasn't for the track world, Lyles explained. It's a way to appeal to everyone else.
"To everybody outside who's looking in, who's not that familiar, hearing something like that is what's going to bring them into the sport and say, 'Hey, let me check out what's going on over here,'" Lyles said.
It's something Lyles thinks about frequently.
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Now 25, the three-time world champion has long since cemented himself as one of the elite athletes in American track and field today, and one of the greatest men's 200-meter runners ever. But with the 2024 Paris Olympics now a little more than a year away, he is increasingly cognizant − and intentional − about being more than that. His goal, especially in a non-Olympic year like this, is to attempt to drag track and field into the sporting mainstream.
And if that means celebrating a record just to get his name in the same sentence as Bolt, then so be it.
"Saying a time, nobody's really going to know the difference between (Bolt's world record of) 19.19 and (Lyles' American record of) 19.31. Truly," he explained. "Those people who just watch for the Olympics and watch who wins, they're going to be like, 'Oh, I saw such and such who won.' … So when we're not in an Olympic year, we need to be figuring out those things that are going to jump out to people. And one of those things is breaking a record of somebody who's very well known in the sport."
Saturday's meet was one of the last events prior to the start of the U.S. championships in Eugene, Oregon early next month. Lyles, a dominant force in the 200, said he intends to shift his focus there to the men's 100-meter dash. Fellow American Fred Kerley, who was scheduled to compete Saturday but withdrew, is the reigning world champion in the event.
"I don't really care about the times right now, as long as I'm winning," Lyles said of the 100-meter dash. "When you get to world championships, all that matters is if you got the medal when you leave."
British sprinter emerges as 100-meter threat
Perhaps the most surprising result Saturday was in the men's 100, where Zharnel Hughes of Great Britain won in a blazing 9.83 seconds. It was not only a personal best, but also a national record and the fastest time in the world this year.
And the craziest part? Hughes said he dreamed about running that exact time the night before. He keeps a journal and recalled writing it down.
"This morning, I woke up with 9.83 in my mind," he said. "When I looked on the clock and I saw 9.83, I don't know if you saw my reacton, but I was like, 'what just happened there?' … Manifestation is real, man."
Hughes edged out a crowded field that also featured Ackeem Blake of Jamaica and American Christian Coleman. And with his time, Hughes announced himself as a possible threat in the 100 at the world championships in Budapest later this summer, alongside Kerley, Lyles and reigning Olympic gold medalist Marcell Jacobs of Italy.
"I'm pretty sure not many people expected it," Hughes said of his win, "but patience is the game."
Mu shows little rust in season debut
The past few years have been a whirlwind for Athing Mu. She won two gold medals at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, a world championship in 2022 and recently switched to a new sports agency and a new coach, the legendary Bobby Kersee.
After all that hubbub, Mu finally kicked off her 2023 season Saturday, an unusually late start to the outdoor season for one of the sport's star middle-distance runners. And she didn't show any signs of rust, winning the 800 meters by a full two seconds, with a time of 1:58.73.
Afterward, Mu said it almost felt like practice.
"Besides the race nerves and the environment," she said with a smile. "I think Bobby just most of all wanted me to get out there, kind of just experience the field a little bit more, get a chance to feel the environment before we get into bigger championships. That's exactly what it did."
All about progress for McLaughlin-Levrone
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone's switch from the 400-meter hurdles to the flat 400 is one of the most intriguing storylines in the sport this year. And in her second race of the season, she won comfortably and lowered her personal best by one-fifth of a second, to 49.51.
There's talk that McLaughlin-Levrone, who smashed the world record in the hurdles, could soon threaten the flat 400-meter world record of 47.60 seconds, which has stood for nearly 40 years.
"I've got to break 49 first before I can talk about that," she said Saturday. "I appreciate all the world record talk, but I think people have to really understand what it takes to progress in a new event."
Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Noah Lyles ties Usain Bolt record in bid to boost track and field
