Noah Lyles and Gabby Thomas impressed with world-leading times in the 200m semis at the US Olympic trials.
Gabby Thomas and Noah Lyles have clocked world leading times to claim top honours in the women’s and men’s 200m semifinal at the US Olympic track and field trials happening at the Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
Thomas stopped the clock at 21.78 to win her respective heat ahead of Abby Steiner and Tamara Clark who clocked 22.03 and 22.12 respectively.
Sha’Carri Richardson, competing in a different heat, won the race and equaled her personal best time of 21.92. Jenna Prandini and Jadyn Mays finished second and third, clocking respective times of 22.26 and 22.33.
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Richardson and Thomas will face off against each other in the final for the first time this season with each athlete hoping to impress fans. They were in action at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, where Thomas took silver as Richardson settled for bronze in the women’s 200m.
Richardson had a slow start to her season in the distance. At the Diamond League Meeting in Xiamen, Torrie Lewis clocked 22.96 to win the race as Richardson came in second in 22.99. Tamara Clark sealed the podium in 23.01.
The American sprint queen then in the Diamond League Meeting in Suzhou, where she finished third in the race won by Great Britain’s Daryl Neita. Neita clocked 22.62 as Anavia Battle finished second in 22.99 with Richardson coming in third with 23.11.
Meanwhile, Thomas has also been shaky this season, winning the race at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays presented by Truist before finishing sixth at the USATF Los Angeles Grand Prix. She then bounced back with a win at the New York City Grand Prix.
Meanwhile, Lyles continued his winning streak, clocking a world leading time of 19.60 to comfortably win his respective heat.
Christian Coleman came in second with 19.89 as Robert Gregory rounded up the podium with an impressive 19.98.
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Lyles faces an uphill task as he looks to impress in the final, where he will face off against Coleman, Kenny Bednarek, who holds the fastest time in the world over the 200m this year with Erriyon Knighton, and Courtney Lindsey.
He is yet to win the gold medal in the 200m at the Olympic Games and he will be out to change the narrative this season as he maintains focus on Usain Bolt’s world record of 19.19. He also looks to win four gold medals at the Olympics.