Posted in: 27/06/2022 – 07:38Last updated: 27/06/2022 – 07:36
Eugene (United States) (AFP) – Noah Lyles, Abby Steiner and Ray Benjamin rose to the challenge three weeks before the World Athletics Championships, with their brilliance during the US national team selection tests, which were held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, where the World Cup will be held from July 15-24.
Although he was a guarantee of his participation in the world championships as the title holder, Lyles participated in the 200-meter qualifiers and qualified for the final, which he won on Sunday, with a record of 19.67 seconds, and he has just recovered from being infected with the Corona virus.
The 24-year-old led by a very small difference over Aerion Knighton (16.69 seconds), who became on the 30th of April during the Baton Rouge meeting in Louisiana, with the fourth fastest time in the history of the race behind Jamaican legend Usain Bolt (19.19) and the other Jamaican Yohan Blake (19.26). and fellow legend Michael Johnson (19.32).
Knighton seemed to be on his way to winning the race following he achieved a better start than Lyles and was in the lead 20 meters from the finish line, but the latter applied to him and overtaken him by a difference that is not noticeable to the naked eye.
Lyles commented on his victory by saying, “I did what I had to do to win. Aerion got ahead of me on the corner but I kept my cool. I told myself I had to catch him and beat him in the last 100 metres, and that’s what I did.”
Fred Kerley, who became the sixth-fastest sprinter in the history of the 100-meter race Friday, with his compatriots, world champion Christian Coleman and Traven Brommel (9.76 seconds), completed the podium with a record of 19.83 seconds.
Curley will try to win the 100 and 200 m double during the world championships, unlike Coleman, who missed the semi-finals of the 200 m race and will not compete in the World Cup.
On Saturday, Coleman also missed the 100m final following finishing fourth in the semi-finals (9.87), but he will be able to compete in the world championships since he is the title holder.
The 26-year-old sprinter had said that he intended to participate in all rounds, in search of a return to the top following being suspended for 18 months for missing doping tests, which caused him to miss the Tokyo Olympics last summer.
Another failure for Richardson
In the women’s event, as expected, college champion Abby Steiner won the 200-meter race with a time of 21.77 seconds, improving the world’s best performance this year, which she achieved in the current 11 (21.80 seconds).
But she did not retain the best time for this year for a long time, as she ceded it quickly to Jamaican Sherika Jackson, who scored 21.55 seconds in Kingston on Sunday during the trials for the Jamaican national team for the World Cup in Eugene.
Steiner beat Tamara Clark (21.92) and Gina Brandini (22.01), while Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Gabe Thompson finished eighth following suffering from thigh pain.
Rookie Shakari Richardson suffered a new disappointment following she failed Sunday to qualify for the 200m final, days following her failure in the 100m.
Richardson, 22, finished tenth in the semi-finals with a time of 22.47 seconds.
Richardson was surprisingly eliminated from the 100m heats Thursday, following she was satisfied with fifth place in her group in the heats and 23rd overall.
Richardson concluded disappointing trials and failed to qualify for her first world championships, having caused a sensation last year during the US Olympic trials when she clocked 10.64 seconds (assisted by wind) in the 100m semi-final before winning the final race. But she was denied entry to the Tokyo Olympics because of her marijuana use.
Her only hope for the Eugene World Cup remains to be selected to participate with the US national team for the relay.
Among other notable results, silver medalist Ray Benjamin, a silver medalist at the last two Olympics and a world championship, set the world’s best performance of the year in the 400m hurdles with a time of 47.04 seconds, claiming the United States Champion for the third time in a row.
Fantastic showdown between Mo and Wilson
Athing Mo, the Olympic gold holder in Tokyo 2020, secured her participation in the Eugene World Cup following winning the 800-meter race with a time of 1:57.16 minutes, surpassing Aji Wilson (1:57.23 d), who seemed to be on the way to winning her lead over her opponent in the last 40 metres. Before the latter returns to snatch the victory in the last meter.
In the absence of world champion Grant Holloway, who decided not to participate in the final race as he guaranteed his qualification to the World Cup as the title holder, Daniel Roberts (13.03 d) won the 110-meter hurdles, ahead of Trey Cunningham (13.08) and Devon Allen (13.09), which took place in April. April with the Philadelphia Eagles participating in the NFL, which achieved two weeks ago in the New York meeting the third best time in the history of the race (12.84).
In the women’s throwing iron, Chase Ellie achieved this year’s throw of the year following she recorded 20.51 m.
Finally, in the triple jump, Christian Taylor finished fifth, but the four-times world champion remains a favorite for a fifth title despite having struggled to recover his best form since he ruptured his Achilles tendon last year.
© 2022 AFP