LONDON (AP) — Heading into the Paris Olympics, Noah Lyles has never been faster.
The American world champion warmed up for the Paris Games by setting a personal best in the 100 meters at Saturday’s Diamond League meet in London, clocking 9.81 seconds to beat a strong field in the last major meet before the Olympics.
Lyles trailed his rivals at the start before powering past the field over the last 50 meters. Akani Simbine of South Africa was second in 9.86 and Letsile Tebogo of Botswana was third in 9.88, with the top five finishers all breaking the 10-second mark.
“I could have had a better start. I’ve been having a lot better starts in practice,” Lyles said. “I wanted to drop under 9.80, but I’ll take a PR every day of the week.”
Lyles’ previous best was the 9.83 he clocked at last year’s world championships in Budapest — where he won the 100, 200 and the 4×100 relay — and then matched in the U.S. Olympic trials last month.
Saturday’s result further underlines him as the favorite for the gold medal in Paris, where he can cement his status as the world’s fastest man.
And Lyles isn’t shy about his goal at the Olympics.
“I’m going to win,” he said. “That’s what I always do.”
Other notable results at the London Stadium — which hosted the 2012 Olympics — included Matt Hudson-Smith of Britain setting a world-leading time of 43.74 in the men’s 400 and world champion Femke Bol taking the women’s 400 hurdles in 51.30, her second fastest time ever.
In the women’s 200, Gabrielle Thomas came from behind to pass Julien Alfred and Dina Asher-Smith to win in 21.82.
