Lightning Lyles retains 200m title, Jackson trumps Fraser-Pryce

Noah Lyles (centre) of US sprints to victory in the 200m final during the World Athletics Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, on Thursday. (AFP)

• Lyles’ clocks 19.31 seconds for the third-fastest of all time over the distance

Noah Lyles defended his world 200m title in electric fashion in a second US sprint cleansweep on Thursday night, while Shericka Jackson thwarted Jamaican teammate Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s bid for a sprint double in the women’s race. Lyles’ 19.31 seconds is the third-fastest of all time over the distance. Tokyo bronze medallist Lyles led at the halfway point and exploded through the finish, with compatriots Kenny Bednarek (19.77) and 18-year-old Erriyon Knighton (19.80) battling out of the turn and down the straight for silver and bronze. Lyles has not been satisfied with how quickly he has been getting out of the blocks in some of his races but said the first few metres on Thursday was “the start of my life”. “I was telling (Knighton) and Kenny, I was like, ‘I was glad y’all was behind me because y’all put the fear of God into my start,’” said Lyles. He knew he had a clear path to the top of the podium when he did not feel Knighton behind him off the turn. “After that (turn) I was like, ‘Okay, I’m racing myself. Let’s go,’ which was my goal,” he told reporters. “But I also had in the back of the head, in case he did try to pull up on me, I was going to be ready for it.” Lyles ripped open his shirt after the finish as the home crowd in Eugene, Oregon, roared with approval, and offered an embrace to rival Knighton. “Today is my day — I finally got to do what I dreamed of,” he said on track after breaking four-time Olympic champion Michael Johnson’s national record, which had stood since 1996. “I got my whole family here.” Lyles’ time was initially displayed as 19.32, which would have tied Johnson’s record. However, it was then updated to an official 19.31 when his back was turned, with the 25-year-old clearly stunned when he noticed the new figure on the clock. Johnson later approached him to congratulate him on breaking the mark. He was so wrapped up in the moment that Lyles later told reporters he was initially unaware of his margin of victory — or even which medals his teammates got. “I didn’t know Erriyon got third until we walked up on the podium,” said Lyles. Thursday’s race was the second 1-2-3 for US men in Eugene after Fred Kerley, Marvin Bracy and Trayvon Bromell swept the 100m. It is the first time any country has swept the two men’s sprints in the same year at the worlds. It capped a remarkable turnaround from the Tokyo Olympics a year ago when the American men left without any individual track golds. Moments earlier, Shericka Jackson became the fastest woman alive over 200 metres when she scorched to a dominant world title in 21.45 seconds, a time bettered only by American Florence Griffith-Joyner in 1988. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who claimed her fifth world 100m gold on Sunday, took silver in 21.81, with Britain’s defending champion Dina Asher-Smith third in 22.02. It was an incredible run by Jackson, edging her ahead of double Olympic sprint champion Elaine Thompson-Herah in the all-time list and closing in on Griffith-Joyner’s 21.34 from the Seoul Olympics. It also gave her a measure of satisfaction after her painful experience in the Tokyo Olympics when she eased up too early in the 200m heats and failed to go through when highly fancied for a medal. “I’m feeling great. I came out and put on a show. The fastest woman alive, the national and championship record, I can’t complain,” said Jackson. The 28-year-old has a bagful of individual minor medals, including a silver in the 100m in Eugene last weekend, but now finally has a global gold. “I know Shelly is probably one of the best curve runners in the world so I had to run the curve as hard as possible,” she added. “I know I am strong and fast on coming home so I knew when I eventually caught up with her, I could take it.” Fraser-Pryce, who won the world 200 title in 2013, got her usual blistering start and the 35-year-old led coming off the bend before Jackson hit full stride and pulled clear to drive home with clear daylight between the yellow vests. “I was really, really tired physically and mentally and still I wanted to come out and have a good run,” said Fraser-Pryce. “This has always been an event that challenges me. I got lane six, all the girls were behind me so I had to get off like nobody.” Aminatou Seyni was fourth for Niger, ahead of American duo Abby Steiner and Tamara Clark, with Thompson-Herah seventh. Jackson said she was not thinking about times but everyone else in the sport is, as the current crop of Jamaican stars chip away at a world record that for many still sits uncomfortably Griffith-Joyner’s mark has long been considered untouchable and exists under a cloud of suspicion over doping. The American, who also holds the 100m world record, died in 1998 at the age of 38. Advances in shoe and track technology are helping to bring it closer. Her Seoul semi-final time of 21.56 had long stood as the second-fastest before Thompson-Herah, in the Tokyo Olympics, and Jackson in last month’s Jamaican trials, nudged ahead of it. Jackson is now just over a 10th of a second behind the 21.34 and with evergreen Fraser-Pryce as inspiration, she will have it firmly in her sights with another World Championships and an Olympic Games in the next two years.

Gold medallist Shericka Jackson and silver medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica celebrate after the women’s 200m Final. (AFP)