Fred Kerley and Noah Lyles set for epic sprint showdown

ATHLETICS Fred Kerley and Noah Lyles set for epic sprint showdown

Abigael Wafula 06:04 - 16.06.2023

Lyles has been in impeccable form this season which has seen him run a world-leading time of 19.67 at the Racers Grand Prix in Kingston.

World champions Fred Kerley and Noah Lyles are set to clash in the men’s 200m as the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold heads to New York on Saturday, June 24.

Lyles will headline the 200m, his area of specialty and he will be looking to shine once again when he takes on a tough field. He has dominated the 200m, having won the World Championships gold medal in 2019 and 2022.

At the 2022 World Championships in Oregon, he clocked 19.31 to win, breaking Michael Johnson’s US record and moving to third on the world all-time list. He has been in impeccable form this season which has seen him run a world-leading time of 19.67 at the Racers Grand Prix in Kingston.

He will be competing in his third 200m race since the season started at the event where he hopes to maintain the hot streak. He opened his 200m campaign with a dominant win at the Tom Jones Memorial in April.

He will face his greatest opposition from Kerley, the world champion in the 100m. The 28-year-old opened his 2023 outdoor season with a win over 200m at the Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne and followed that with victory over the same distance at the Doha Diamond League meeting in 19.92.

Meanwhile, Michael Norman, Kenny Bednarek, Marvin Bracy-Williams, and Christian Coleman will be bracing up for a clash in the men’s 100m.

One of the most versatile sprinters in recent times, Norman will be making his first appearance at the USATF NYC Grand Prix in the men’s 100m. Norman won gold in both the 400m and 4x400m relay at last year’s World Championships in Oregon.

He also won gold in the 4x400m relays at both the 2019 World Championships and Tokyo Olympic Games and with lifetime bests.

Joining him in New York will be Olympic and world 200m silver medallist Bednarek, world 100m silver medallist Bracy-Williams, 2019 world 100m champion Coleman, Britain’s Zharnel Hughes, and Akeem Blake of Jamaica.

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