Kishane Thompson laid down a marker ahead of next month’s world championships by defeating Olympic champion Noah Lyles in the highly-anticipated 100 metres at the Silesia Diamond League meeting on Saturday.
Thompson blasted out of the blocks and never looked like being beaten, crossing the line in 9.87 seconds, while Lyles, known for his typically slow start, ran strongly at the end but finished in 9.90 seconds, his season’s best. Kenny Bednarek claimed third place.
Although there were no world records, the sun-soaked crowd were treated to remarkable performances as Olympic and world champions fine-tuned ahead of Tokyo in September. Faith Kipyegon came agonisingly close to breaking the women’s 3,000 metres world record, while Keely Hodgkinson made a victorious return in the 800 metres.
The men’s sprint featured American Lyles and Thompson for the first time since their unforgettable Olympic final last year in Paris, where Lyles narrowly beat Thompson by five thousandths of a second.
Adding Bednarek into the mix, who recently clashed with Lyles at the US Championships, made this a race no one wanted to miss. Lyles had exchanged a heated moment with Bednarek earlier this month when he stared down his rival at the finish and received a shove in return.
Lyles, whose season was delayed by an ankle injury, remained unperturbed by the defeat, happily signing autographs for fans and expressing satisfaction at breaking 10 seconds for the first time this year.
“It is a great stepping stone. I needed to see a sub-10,” Lyles said.
“I took out some really big heads today, people who run 9.7 and 9.8. The more I run, the better I am getting.”