Noah Lyles ran 19.31 and set an American record. He broke Michael Johnson’s mark—which had stood since 1996 (26 years)—by 0.01 seconds. Lyles’s time was the third-fastest in history.
Lyles led the race from its opening steps. On Tuesday night, after the semifinal, he said that he has “one of the worst starts out there.” He had a great start tonight and established a lead by the top of the turn.
The clock at the finish line initially read 19.32, which would have equaled Johnson’s record. “I expected to see that time. But I didn’t want it to say 32. No one wants to share a record,” Lyles said.
He turned his back on the clock, and then he heard a roar from the crowd. The time had been adjusted for accuracy down to 19.31.
Lyles recalled the moment: “I look up at the big screen and it says 31 and I just went ballistic.”
After the medal ceremony, Lyles spent nearly 30 minutes celebrating on the track and hugging people in the stands, among them, Johnson, who came down from where he was doing television commentary to greet Lyles. It was the first time the two had met in person.
Lyles’s margin of victory was 0.46 seconds, massive by sprinting standards. Kenny Bednarek, in second, ran 19.77, and Erriyon Knighton ran 19.80. Knighton, at 18 years and 174 days old, is the youngest world medalist ever in the men’s 200 meters.
The U.S. sweep of the medals was the fourth of these championship. U.S. men also swept the 100 and the shot put, and Jamaican women swept the 100.
The women’s 200 was also a record breaker. Shericka Jackson of Jamaica ran the second-fastest time in history, 21.45. Florence Griffith-Joyner’s world record of 21.34 from 1988 lives another day.
“I know that Shelly is probably one of the best curve runners in the world, so I knew she was going to go hard,” Jackson said of her compatriot, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the silver medalist. “I knew that I want to get gold, I had to run the curve as hard as possible. I know I am strong and fast on coming home so I knew when I eventually catch up with her, I could take it.”
Dina Asher-Smith of Great Britain, the bronze medalist, said history would look back favorably upon this period of sprinting. “I definitely think we’re in a golden era,” she said. “It’s insane. We haven’t seen these times for decades and decades, but also we haven’t seen the depth. And the fact that these times are coming from an assortment of women I think is so special.”
The American women, however, have not won a medal at this meet in the 100, 200, and 400, which is unusual.
The medal count
The U.S. continues to dominate the medal count with 22: 7 gold, 6 silver, and 9 bronze. Ethiopia is second with 8, and Jamaica is third with 6.
Woody Kincaid goes down
Roughly 2,000 meters into heat 2 of the men’s 5K, Woody Kincaid, sensing an injection of speed was coming into the race, tried to establish position on the rail. He collided with Hyugo Endo of Japan, and Kincaid went down. Although he quickly got up and tried to reestablish contact with the pack, it wasn’t enough for him to advance to the final. Kincaid ran 13:25.02 and finished 11th in his heat. His protest was apparently unsuccessful to advance him to the final.
Kincaid, who trains with 5,000-meter finalists Grant Fisher and Mo Ahmed, was frustrated after the race. “I think that’s the thing, I’m in great shape,” he said. “And at USAs, Grant just ran a better race than me. I’m in just as good a shape as that guy is.”
Scan here for more about your favorite athletes
How to Watch the 2023 World Track Championships Athing Mu’s walk-out song or biggest dreams, or the Instagram follower Aleia Hobbs most treasures? If you can’t catch the pro runners to ask them in person, you can now find out by scanning the QR codes they wore pasted prominently on their right thighs in this week’s races.
“It’s all about me—so if you want to learn about me, the queen Ting Ting, just put your phone right there and my face will pop up somewhere,” Mu said after the preliminary round of the women’s 800 meters. In fact, the links take viewers to a series of YouTube videos called “Going the Distance,” produced by World Athletics, where interviewers ask about everything from training to self-care routines to how long they’d last in a zombie apocalypse. (Spoiler alert: Hobbs likes her odds; she watches a lot of zombie movies.)
Winning pays off
You know gold, silver, and bronze, but do you know there are payouts for those finishing spots? Or even what you get for finishing eighth? That’s right, the athletes who finish in the top eight of their event earn prize money at the World Athletics Championships. Here’s the breakdown:
Individual events
- Gold: $70,000
- Silver: $35,000
- Bronze: $22,000
- Fourth: $16,000
- Fifth: $11,000
- Sixth: $7,000
- Seventh: $6,000
- Eighth: $5,000
Relays (per team)
- Gold: $80,000
- Silver: $40,000
- Bronze: $20,000
- Fourth: $16,000
- Fifth: $12,000
- Sixth: $8,000
- Seventh: $6,000
- Eighth: $4,000
Tonight, Sydney McLaughlin races the 400-meter hurdle final. Here’s Half Marathon Training.
—Cindy Kuzma contributed to this report.
Results: 2023 World Athletics Championships is a writer and editor living in Eugene, Oregon, and her stories about the sport, its trends, and fascinating individuals have appeared in Runner’s World World Athletics Championships Results, Run Your Butt Off! and Walk Your Butt Off!
