Noah Lyles is a six-time world track and field championship gold medalist, but despite his elite top-end speed, he says the start was “the worst part of my race.”
This combination made him the fastest man in the world, but it also had its drawbacks.
Probably no more.
At the U.S. Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico on Saturday (17th), Lyles beat Christian Coleman, the 60m world record holder and one of the fastest outside the blocks, to set a personal best. He won the gold medal with a world-class time of 6.43 seconds. , by a difference of 0.01, proving once again that he has honed his technique and reduced his vulnerability during this indoor season.
Lyles left the blocks with the fifth-fastest reaction time of the eight-man field, but after just two steps he believed “this race was mine.” He spent this season focusing on technique, especially between 10 and 20 meters.
Despite all his accomplishments, Lyles had never been selected to a team for the World Indoor Track and Field Championships until Saturday. He will compete in a competition in Glasgow next month, hoping for another great season indoors.
“World domination,” Lyles said, standing next to Coleman. “We are the best in the world.”
“I'm excited, beyond excited,” Lyles later added. “It’s one thing to run fast, it’s another to run fast against the best in the world, and that’s exactly what happened here today. I was excited to compete.”
Their duel capped a day in which the play was more than just one race.
Aleia Hobbs won the women's 60m in 7.02 seconds, qualifying for Glasgow with Mikia Briscoe in second place in 7.06 seconds.
In the 400 meters, Alexis Holmes set a championship record of 50.34 seconds, placing her second on this season's top list behind world record holder Femke Boll.
In the men's shot put, Ryan Crozer fell just two centimeters short of the official indoor throw record. With 22.80 meters on his fifth attempt, the world record holder surpassed Leonardo Fabbri's seven-day world lead of 22.37 meters.
Like Lyles, Krauser has compiled one of the strongest career accomplishments lists in his sport, but has never won a gold medal at the World Indoor Championships.
On the track, Cole Hocker broke away from the pack with three laps to go, weaving past John Reniewicki on the inside along the track rail and winning the 1,500 meters in a winning time of 3 minutes, 37.51 seconds. Hocker, who had never trained at altitudes like Albuquerque, planned to attack the track's straights, which led him to the 20-year-old's first World Indoor Team spot with a time of 3:38.76. It helped him easily defeat Hobbs Kessler.
“It's not often you finish a race and feel like you executed your plan 100 percent, but it was pretty close to what I wanted to do today,” Hocker said. “I had to think about the altitude a little bit, but it's a three-and-a-half minute race. And I said to myself, 'It's 5,000 feet, so I think I can get through it in three and a half minutes.'
With 800 meters to go, Bryce Hoppel moved from second to first on the final lap, winning his fourth U.S. indoor title with a time of 1:46.67. He made his move just before the final curve, passing Abraham Alvarado for the lead, and Isaiah Harris followed that lead with a final lap of 26.06 seconds, taking second place with a time of 1 minute 46.78 seconds, leading him to second place in Glasgow. I won the right to participate.
But the most dramatic late move of the day came from 400m winner Brian Faust. At the halfway point of the race, Faust was 0.58 seconds behind the leader, but he moved from third to first on the final straight, passing Jacory Patterson for the win in 45.47.
On the same day that Britain's Molly Caudalie set a season's world pole vault record of 4.85 meters in Birmingham, Katie Moon cleared 4.80 meters to win the US Indoor Championships for the second year in a row and for the fourth time in total. I accomplished it.
President Moon has been suffering from a strained Achilles tendon for the past two weeks, having become “painfully strained” just a week ago in France. Still, that didn't deter Moon as he cleared four times in a row, skipping 4.85 meters and raising the bar to 4.90 meters, looking to build a world lead just hours after Cordery's performance. President Moon failed in all three attempts. Sandy Morris took second place with 4.75m.
Mun, a Tokyo Olympic champion and gold medalist at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships in Athletics, has become a world championship-winning vaulter. But Saturday also highlighted that Cordery will be Moon's main competitor as she pursues the indoor world gold medal that has eluded her so far.
In the women's 1,500m, Nikki Hiltz took a two-step lead on the bell lap and held off Emily McKay to win in 4:08.35. El St-Pierre, who had won the 3,000 meters the night before, ultimately did not compete in the 1,500 meters.
The 800m title was won by Allie Wilson in 2:00.63, just 0.07 seconds ahead of 20-year-old Addie Wylie.
Although Ketula Orji does not have the standard record for the World Indoor Championships, she won the triple jump with a season-best record of 14.50 meters. Men's long jump champion Johnny Brackins, a college student at the University of Southern California, also won with 8.23 meters, setting wind-legal personal bests in both indoor and outdoor events. Like all competitors who place in the top two at the U.S. Championships, both athletes qualify for the World Championships through their World Rankings.
Erin Reese won the women's weight throw with a personal record of 25.73 meters, placing her second on the all-time list behind Deanna Price's best set from a year ago.
Andrew Greif of World Athletics
