Lyles leads impressive US trio into 200 metres Olympic semis
Lyles leads impressive US trio into 200 metres Olympic semis
TOKYO (AFP) - World champion Noah Lyles led an impressive trio of Americans into the Olympic 200 metres semi-finals on Tuesday.
The 24-year-old timed 20.18 seconds in a that was little more than a gentle warm-up for the semi-finals later on Tuesday.
"I have been here seven days and still trying to get fully acclimatised," said Lyles.
"However, you don’t have to be fully rested to put in a good performance.
"I usually get to bed at midnight and up at five -- obviously I would prefer if it was seven -- but it felt good out there.
"It did not feel like I was giving a lot of energy."
His team-mates Kenneth Bednarek and 17-year-old sensation Erriyon Knighton also won ther heats.
Bednarek, 22, said he felt the US could sweep the medals but added he had to keep his nerves under control.
"I gained in confidence after the trials," he said.
"I have got to deal with my nerves as this is a bigger meet but I have just got to try and treat it as an ordinary meet."
Bednarek said he was looking forward to seeing how the Knighton developed, adding he "is going to be a monster."
Knighton looked remarkably relaxed in his first outing at the biggest athletics show of them all, even yawning before the starter called the runners to their blocks.
"I feel really good but I stayed up past my bedtime so I had a little yawn," he said.
Knighton, though, admitted the Olympics was a huge step up for him.
"There is a huge difference between seniors and juniors," he said.
"In the seniors you have to run really fast as you are competing against grown men and in the latter you can jog!" he said.
The American trio may not have things all their own way with 2016 Olmypic silver medalist Andre de Grasse aching to finally get his hands on a gold medal after he won a second successive 100m bronze on Sunday.
De Grasse, 26, came in third in his heat behind another potential medalist Turkey’s 2017 world champion Ramil Guliyev.
Team GB’s nightmare in the sprints -- two of their male 100m sprinters were disqualified for false starts in the 100m -- continued as veteran Adam Gemili failed to get further than five metres before pulling up injured in his heat.
