EUGENE, OR — Noah Lyles had something to say after winning gold in the men’s 200 meters at the U.S. track and field championships.
Lyles ran a world-leading 19.63 to get the gold in the 200, but he had to work for it.
Lyles was behind Kenny Bednarek at the turn. He pulled even with him with roughly 10 meters remaining. Lyles turned to look at Bednarek as he ran past him with only five meters remaining and continued to stare him down after he crossed the finish line first.
Bednarek retaliated by giving Lyles a slight push before the two shook hands.
“Noah is gonna be Noah. If he wants to stare me down that fine,” Bednarek said after the race. “I’m very confident I can beat him. What he said doesn’t matter. It’s just what he did. It’s unsportsmanlike (expletive) and I don’t deal with that.”
Lyles didn’t comment when asked what compelled him to taunt Bednarek.
“It felt really good,” Lyles said following the win. “If they ain’t gonna beat me now, they ain’t gonna beat me ever.”
It’s Lyles fifth national championship in the 200. Lyles said he had no doubt he would be victorious with roughly 80 meters left.
“We came off the turn and I saw how far Kenny was and I was like, ‘As long as I can keep him in my pocket then I can catch him,’” Lyles explained. “We got to the straight away, we passed the 60 meters left mark and I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’m coming for him.’ He ran out of energy and he ran out of momentum and mine was just starting to hit it.”
The 200 has always been Lyles’ marquee event despite being the defending world champion in both the 100 and 200 and the Olympic champion in the 100.
USA TODAY Sports was on the ground for the final day of action at the U.S. track and field championships. Here are the highlights from the competition:
Melissa Jefferson-Wooden leaves no doubt in women’s 200
Jefferson-Wooden ran a personal-best 21.84 to win gold in the 200. She was the only sprinter to run sub-22 seconds in the race.
“It’s something I’ve been working toward,” Jefferson-Wooden said after winning the sprint double. “I’m excited. I get to say I completed the double at the U.S. championships, which is very hard by the way. It’s not easy.”
Anavia Battle took second, running a season-best 22.13. Gabby Thomas barely got the third and final qualifying spot, running a 22.20 in a photo finish for third place.
Valarie Allman remains undefeated this season
Allman continued her dominant run in the discus. She tossed 234 feet, 5 inches to win gold. Her mark was over 20 feet better than all other competitors.
Allman is undefeated in two seasons. She hasn’t lost since the 2023 world championships.
The two-time-Olympic champion heads to the world championships as the No.1 ranked discus thrower in the world.
Donavan Brazier wins exciting 800
Brazier was in fourth after the first lap, but sprinted past the pack during the final 60 meters to win the men’s 800 with a personal-best time of 1:42.16
Cooper Lutkenhaus placed second and broke the under-18 world record (1:42.27) in the process.
Dalilah Muhammad earns national title
The 35-year-old crossed the finish line first in the women’s 400-meter hurdles to win her first national championship since 2019 and fifth overall.
Muhammad won gold in the 400-meter hurdles at the 2016 Olympics. She’s said this will be her last year of competition.