Noah Lyles will go into the Paris Olympics coming off the fastest 100m of his life.
Lyles won the London Diamond League in 9.81 seconds, shaving two hundredths off his personal best time that he ran to win the 2023 World title and the U.S. Olympic Trials last month.
Lyles beat a field Saturday that included the world silver and bronze medalists: Letsile Tebogo of Botswana ran 9.88 for third (two hundredths behind South African Akani Simbine). Brit Zharnel Hughes was sixth in 10.00.
Lyles is the world’s third-fastest man in 2024 behind Jamaican Olympic Trials winner Kishane Thompson (9.77) and Kenyan Ferdinand Omanyala (9.79). Lyles ran into a .3 meter/second headwind on Saturday, while Thompson and Omanyala benefited from tailwinds in their races.
DIAMOND LEAGUE: Full Results
Lyles is the world’s fastest man in 2024 in the 200m (19.53) and reigning world champion in that event. He will bid in Paris to sweep the 100m and 200m golds, which Usain Bolt did in 2008, 2012 and 2016.
At the Olympics, the men’s 100m final is Aug. 4 and the men’s 200m final is Aug. 8.
Earlier, Dutchwoman Femke Bol took the 400m hurdles in 51.30, the fourth-fastest time in history. Last Sunday, Bol clocked 50.95, the third-fastest time in history.
Only American Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has run faster (50.65, 50.68). The two are expected to face off for gold in Paris.
Brit Keely Hodgkinson won the 800m in 1:54.61, the seventh-fastest time in history and the world’s best time in six years.
Hodgkinson took silver at the Tokyo Olympics and at the world championships in 2022 and 2023.
American Athing Mu, gold medalist in Tokyo and at the 2022 Worlds, did not make the U.S. team for Paris after falling in the Olympic Trials final. Kenyan Mary Moraa, the 2023 World champion, is expected to be Hodgkinson’s biggest competition in Paris.
Jamaican Nickisha Pryce won the women’s 400m in 48.57 seconds, the world’s best time since the Tokyo Olympics.
Price, the 23-year-old NCAA champion for Arkansas, was eliminated in the semifinals of the 2023 Worlds and went into 2024 with a personal best of 50.21.
Matthew Hudson-Smith took the men’s 400m in 43.74, shattering his own European record of 44.04.
Hudson-Smith matched the world’s best time over the last two years set by Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Steven Gardiner of the Bahamas last July.
American Gabby Thomas edged Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia to take the women’s 200m, 21.82 to 21.86.
Thomas, the Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist and 2023 World silver medalist, remains the world’s fastest woman this year (21.78 from the Olympic Trials).
In the shot put, Italian Leonardo Fabbri earned his first win over American Ryan Crouser in their 15th career head-to-head, according to Tilastopaja.org.
Fabbri threw 22.52 meters to Crouser’s 22.37. Crouser is the reigning Olympic and world champion and world record holder (23.56), but was set back by elbow and pec injuries earlier this season.
American Joe Kovacs, the silver medalist behind Crouser at the last two Olympics, finished fourth on Saturday (22.03) but still has the world’s best throw in 2024 (23.13).
Australian Nina Kennedy cleared 4.85 meters to win a women’s pole vault that included the world’s top six performers this outdoor season.
American Katie Moon, the Tokyo Olympic champion who shared the 2023 World title with Kennedy, was eighth (4.50 meters). Moon, who has dealt with an Achilles injury this season, is the fourth-best performer this season with a top clearance of 4.85.
The Diamond League takes a break for the Paris Olympics, returning with an Aug. 22 meet in Lausanne, Switzerland.
