Noah Lyles could hardly have been placed in a worse environment to succeed in his 200-meter final in Tokyo last year.
As he tried to balance the 100 and 200 and wean himself off the antidepressants that had caused him to put on weight and sap his energy, his fitness had been lagging earlier in the year.
However, he started in lane 3 (as a result of letting up in the semifinals); Lyles, never a great turn runner, prefers to start outside.
Unlike anyone else in track & field, Lyles feeds off the crowd of fans more than anyone. He has made it a habit of calling out “Spirit Bombs” before races
COVID-19 restrictions prevented even his family from visiting. The track world had expected Lyles and himself to win gold, but he earned the bronze instead.
The worst-year Noah," Lyles said, pointing to a shirt he wore at the NYC Grand Prix earlier this year featuring a photo from 2021.
The plan was to run the 200 meters in the finals of the 2022 World Athletics Championships at Hayward Field on Thursday night, but it all changed on Thursday night.
This time, he was in lane 6. Lyles felt a charge from the 10,000+ American fans before the race, even though the stands weren't packed
He brought his family to Eugene - brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, stepmothers, stepfathers, uncles, grandmothers. He performed like the sport's greatest champions before him.
Lyles ran a personal best of 19.31 seconds after a rocket start to eliminate Michael Johnson from the American 200m record books after 26 years.
Because Lyles was so far ahead, and so unused to leading by such a wide margin, he stopped competing against humans and began competing against ghosts.