Belgian individual 400m champion Alexander Doom showed off an impressive anchor leg to defeat American sprinter Noah Lyles for gold at the World Indoor 4x400m Relay on Sunday.
Doom, who outperformed Norway's Karsten Warholm for Saturday's 400m crown, had an impressive finish as the Belgian clocked 3:02.54 to beat the American by six-hundredths.
Lyles, who lost out to teammate Christian Coleman for silver in Friday's 60-meter dash, joined the relay team late with the Paris Olympics in mind, but completed the third run without a loss.
Chris Bailey anchored the U.S. team, leading the way until Doom stole the thunder in the closing minutes, which thrilled a packed Emirates Arena.
“The players put me in the perfect position,” Doom said. “I knew there was a chance for something in the end. I was feeling a little tired the last few days, but I was able to get a strong kick at the end, so I'm really happy.”
Lyles justified the late call-up, saying: “To be honest, I had already told people that I wanted to do a four-wheel drive in Paris, so I had to prove it to be part of it.
“I came here and thankfully everyone believed in me and showed me what I can do. I feel like I got the job done.”
Lyles added: “With everything I've done this year, my four-wheel-drive legs have been strong, my 60m run was great and I was able to run three rounds in one day. I'm very positive about Paris. ” he added. . ”
Jonathan Sacour, Dylan Boley and Christian Iguacer hug and celebrate as star teammate Doom scores as the American quartet, also featuring Jacory Patterson and Matthew Bolling, ruins their luck shouted.
As a result, it has been confirmed that Doom is a candidate to compete in the European Championships, which will be held from June 7th to 12th ahead of the Paris Olympics.
“This means a lot of confidence not only for me but also for the team,” Doom said. “It was really a team effort. It's great to have back-to-back gold medals. It was a great night.”
After defeating hurdle king Warholm with another fast finish, he admitted that he usually only focused on the relay.
“I loved running individually,” he said after winning the individual gold medal.
“It's really great to beat Karsten Warholm. He's an Olympic champion and has won almost everything. Not many people have beaten him.”
US anchorman Bailey added: “There aren't many people trying to stop a world champion, so that's what it is.”
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