LONDON – Heading to the Paris Olympics, Noah Lyles has never been faster.
The American world champion prepared for the Paris Games by setting his personal best in the 100 meters at Saturday’s Diamond League meet in London, clocking 9.81 seconds to beat a strong field in the last major meet before the Olympics.
Lyles fell behind his rivals at the start before overtaking the field in the last 50 metres. South Africa’s Akani Simbine was second with 9.86 and Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo was third with 9.88, with the top five finishers breaking the 10 second mark.
“I could have started better. I’ve been getting much better starts in training,” said Lyles. “I wanted to get below 9.80, but I will set a PR every day of the week.”
see more information: Welcome to the Olympics by Noah Lyles
Lyles’ previous best was the 9.83 he clocked at last year’s world championships in Budapest — where he won the 100, 200 meters and the 4×100 relay — and then matched that at the U.S. Olympic Trials last month.
Saturday’s result further highlights him as a favorite for the gold medal in Paris, where he could cement his status as the fastest man in the world.
And Lyles isn’t shy about his Olympic goal. “I will win,” he said. “That’s what I always do.”
Other notable results at the London Stadium – which hosted the 2012 Olympics – included Matt Hudson-Smith of Great Britain setting a world-leading time of 43.74 in the men’s 400m and world champion Femke Bol winning the women’s 400 m hurdles in 51.30, her second fastest time ever.
In the women’s 200 metres, Gabrielle Thomas came from behind to overtake Julien Alfred and Dina Asher-Smith to win in 21.82.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
