Noah Lyles brings some flash to Eugene with win in men's 100-meter final: 'It was definitely electric'
He said it gave him more confidence for what awaits him at the Paris Olympics. The pre-race atmosphere there could not exceed the tension, or the quiet, before this showdown.Lyles gave them one.Kenny Bednarek, heretofore known as a 200-meter specialist, was second in 9.87. Fred Kerley, the 2022 world champion on this track, was third in 9.88.
Kerley has had an unconventional build-up, including changes in sponsor, shoe and coach. He was tearing up the track before his 2022 world title, but there was not a lot to suggest he could recapture that form in 2024. The other highlight of the night was an Olympic Trials record of 19 feet, 5 inches in the pole vault by the outspoken Sam Kendricks. He was a silver medalist at the 2016 Rio Olympics but was quarantined at Tokyo 2021 because of a positive COVID test. He was so vexed by how he was treated he said he might decline his spot on the Olympic team.