Lyles rallies, Richardson fails in bid for Olympic 200M spot

EUGENE, Ore.–American track and field enthusiasts take great pride in making a bold claim.

When it comes to qualifying for the Olympics, he argues that his team is the toughest in any sport, in any country.

Track and field die-hards may get a point, given what happened in two thrilling men’s and women’s 200-meter races at the U.S. Olympic Trials on Saturday night.

“The United States has been dominant. We’ve had at least two medalists at every World Championships and Olympics since 2021,” said men’s 200 winner Noah Lyles. “So 200, we definitely have a strong, strong (chance) of surpassing that.”

For men like Lyles, it was business as usual in Saturday’s final. By the end of the tightly contested sprint, the top 3 were Lyles, Kenny Bednarek and Arion Knighton respectively. A fraction of that trio had long been expected to emerge from the final heats and qualify for the Paris Games.

Although Bednarek took an early lead and appeared to be in position to hold on to the win until late, it was ultimately Lyles’ world-leading, meet-record, 19.53-second time that paced the field. Bednarek checked in at 19.59 seconds and Knighton checked in at 19.77 seconds.

“We had to (clean up) in Tokyo,” Bednarek said. “But I’m confident we can get the job done this time. We all just have to make sure we step up and get the job done when it matters most.”

In contrast to his lengthy celebration halfway through the next turn after winning the 100 final here last week, Lyles stopped very early on Saturday and shook hands with Bednarek before realizing what he had accomplished.

“I’ve gotten to 200 because it’s getting harder for me to celebrate because I’ve been on this streak of winning it so many times,” Lyles said. “That doesn’t mean I’m not trying to take it lightly because it’s my favorite race so far.”

While the men’s race went somewhat as expected, it was a different story for the women.

Sha’Carri Richardson, the third-fastest woman at last summer’s world championships, finished fourth in Saturday’s final and will not compete in the event in Paris. This means she will only run the 100 and participate on relay teams at the Games.

Gabby Thomas, who won bronze in the 200 at the last Olympics, finished first Saturday night along with reigning NCAA champion Mackenzie Long and veteran yet first-time Olympian Brittany Brown to qualify for Paris.

“I feel like everything is going exactly where it needs to be and I’ve done my part and now we’re looking at a gold medal,” Thomas said.

As he had done throughout the trials, Thomas crossed the finish line in 21.81 seconds by the end of the final. Brown won the silver medal with 21.90, and Long, the reigning NCAA 200 m champion who was competing five months after her mother’s death, recorded 21.91.

“I know my mom was smiling cheeks,” Long said, a smile on her face. “I know he’s very proud of me and that’s all I care about.

“Just crossing that line, knowing that I’m an Olympian now, it’s pretty surreal.”

Shortly after Thomas crossed the finish line, Long approached his lane neighbor and tapped him on the arm to get his attention. In one fluid motion, Thomas, the 200 bronze medalist in Tokyo, turned and hugged Long.

Right after, Thomas told Long what he had dreamed about the night before: that the 23-year-old would become an Olympian.

“I was like: ‘You didn’t want to tell me this before we got there?'” Long said. “But yeah, that’s what she said to me. She was like, ‘I’m really proud of you. I literally tell her all the time: ‘I want to be like you.’

“She’s inspiring. That’s my goal, I want to be like Gabby Thomas.”

Thomas, 27, added: “For a young athlete to look at me and say that, it feels so surreal, but it makes me happy. It really feels like it’s giving me purpose. That’s why I do it.” Hoon: Make other girls feel inspired.”

Just before the heat, Long said Richardson pulled him aside and gave him words of encouragement. Similarly, Richardson learned of her biological mother’s death while competing at the trials three years earlier. She wanted Long to know she wasn’t alone in this, Long said.

While Richardson was the only woman out of her heat, the men will go to Paris without Christian Coleman, the world No. 1 100-meter runner who failed to qualify in the 100, and Kyrie King. The fourth and fifth-place finishers were 0.12 and 0.13 seconds respectively behind Knighton’s third-place finish.

In other notable events on Saturday:

• America’s top long jumper certainly knows how to perform. On her last attempt after two scratches, Tara Davis-Woodhall flew off the back of the board to ultimately avoid elimination.

After three more attempts, she jumped 7 meters in the second attempt and moved from fifth to first place.

Davis-Woodhall remained undefeated this season, but this was a nail-biter.

“I don’t want to put myself or you guys in that situation again,” she said in an interview over the stadium PA system. “I’m sorry. But I’m going to Paris, baby!”

• Another sign of Sydney McLaughlin-Levron’s dominance in the 400 hurdles came in the semifinal round.

Her time in the race, where she was just trying to stay upright and move forward, of 52.48 seconds, was the best time of 2024 in the event.

McLaughlin-Levron holds the world record of 50.68 seconds. On Sunday, she will race for a spot at the Olympics and a chance to defend her title.

• Veni Kelati wins 10,000 meters race, 10 years after seeking asylum in the United States. Kelati traveled to Oregon for the World Junior Championships as a teenager and missed her flight back home to Eritrea to start a new life, without telling her friends or family.

Taken in by a relative, Kelati went to high school in Virginia and competed at the University of New Mexico, where she became a multiple-time All-American.

Now, the 27-year-old has earned a trip to the Paris Olympics. Kelati defeated Parker Walby of the University of Florida by less than half a second. Karissa Schweizer, who will make the team for the Tokyo Games in 2021, finished third.

• Already a two-time world champion, Chase Jackson now has a new title: Olympian.

Jackson threw a season’s best of 20.10 meters to defeat masked Olympic silver medalist Raven Saunders in the shot put final. The team also included Jada Ross, who received a lot of applause. He is from the University of Oregon.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.