By Ariwodo praise izuchukwu
After making it to the 200-meter final in Paris 2024, American Noah Lyles has the opportunity to make history by being the first man since Usain Bolt to complete an Olympic sprint double.
Lyles won 100m gold by five-thousandths of a second from Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson in a dramatic photo finish on Sunday.
The 27-year-old, winner of three golds at last year’s World Championships, finished second in his 200m semi-final in 20.08 seconds to Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo.
World 100m silver and 200m bronze medallist Tebogo set the fastest time of the round at Stade de France on Wednesday evening, clocking 19.96secs.
The Olympic men’s 200m final takes place on Thursday at 19:30 BST.
Kenneth Bednarek, of the United States, also set a faster time than Lyles, in 20.00, while compatriot Erriyon Knighton, who upgraded to world 200m silver last year, also safely progressed.
But Canada’s Andre de Grasse will not defend his title in the final after finishing third in his race (20.41).
The Olympic 200m bronze winner three years ago, Lyles claimed world 100m, 200m and 4x100m gold in Budapest last year.
Following that achievement, when he became the first man since Bolt in 2015 to complete a 100m and 200m world double, he claimed he could look to add the 4x400m relay title to that treble haul in Paris.
Jamaican sprint legend Bolt completed individual sprint doubles at three successive Olympic Games among his eight titles, adding relay gold in 2012 and 2016.
Only nine men have achieved that double in the history of the Games.
Lyles became the first American to win an Olympic 100m title for 20 years, since Justin Gatlin in 2004, with his narrow triumph.
A three-time reigning world 200m champion, he will line up as favourite as he looks to further assert himself as the dominant male sprinter of the current generation.
Meanwhile, Noah Lyles, a favorite among the American runners, kept his momentum from yesterday’s 100 meter race by giving the best time in his heat during the men’s 200 meter round today.
Lyles finished with a time of 20.19, putting him in first place for his heat but just behind the two other Americans who ran today.
READ ALSO: CBN raises lending rate to 16.5 per cent to end inflation
He was followed by the reigning Olympic champion, Canada’s Andre De Grasse in second place and Japan’s Towa Uzawa in third.
