Noah Lyles won an extremely quick men's 200m race at the London Athletics Meet 2023 Diamond League event in the British capital on Sunday (23 July).
The American found himself pushed hard by both Britain's national sprint double champion Zharnel Hughes and Botswana's sprint sensation Letsile Tebogo around the bend, before putting some distance between himself and his rivals.
Tebogo kicked hard to give Lyles a scare, but the world champion came home first in 19.47, improving his own 2023 world-leading time by two-tenths of a second.
Tebogo's 19.50 was a new African record, eclipsing Frankie Fredericks' 19.68 from the Atlanta 1996 Olympic final, and moved him up from tied-54th to the sixth on the all-time 200m list.
Hughes gave the home crowd plenty to cheer as his 19.73 was two-tenths inside John Regis' 30-year-old British record, barely a month after he had broken Linford Christie's 100m mark.
"I said it was going to be fast. I told Zharnel he could easily break that British record and he smashed it," Lyles told the BBC after his race. "The 200 will always be mine. She's my wife. Fourth 200 of the year. I'm not letting go of her. She's mine."
The London Athletics Meet was the tune-up for the athletes before they head off to next month’s World Athletics Championships in Budapest.
Latest Stories
-
Fugitive Zambian MP arrested in Zimbabwe – minister
26 mins -
Town council in Canada at standstill over refusal to take King’s oath
37 mins -
Trump picks Pam Bondi as attorney general after Matt Gaetz withdraws
49 mins -
Providing quality seeds to farmers is first step towards achieving food security in Ghana
60 mins -
Contraceptive pills recalled in South Africa after mix-up
2 hours -
Patient sues Algerian author over claims he used her in novel
2 hours -
Kenya’s president cancels major deals with Adani Group
2 hours -
COP29: Africa urged to invest in youth to lead fight against climate change
2 hours -
How Kenya’s evangelical president has fallen out with churches
2 hours -
‘Restoring forests or ravaging Ghana’s green heritage?’ – Coalition questions Akufo-Addo’s COP 29 claims
2 hours -
Ensuring peaceful elections: A call for justice and fairness in Ghana
3 hours -
Inside South Africa’s ‘ruthless’ gang-controlled gold mines
4 hours -
Give direct access to Global Health Fund – Civil Society calls allocations
4 hours -
Trudeau plays Santa with seasonal tax break
4 hours -
Prince Harry jokes in tattoo sketch for Invictus
4 hours