Lyles, Alfred seal statement wins ahead of world championships

ZURICH :Olympic champions Noah Lyles and Julien Alfred stormed to statement victories in the Diamond League Final on Thursday, two weeks before the world championships in Tokyo.

American Lyles became the first track athlete to win six Diamond League Final titles by beating Letsile Tebogo of Botswana in the 200 metres, and St Lucia's Alfred put injury concerns behind her with a dominant win in the women's 100m.

Lyles, three-times world 200m champion, trailed Tebogo coming off the corner before reeling in his rival to cross the line in 19.74 and win by 0.02 seconds.

"Six in a row, the most in track!," Lyles said. "It is pretty nice to have that. I saw Letsile lean on the finish line and I leaned on the finish line but I knew I won."

Tebogo said Lyles has become humbler since he beat the American to win the 200m at the Paris Olympics.

"You have to let the legs do the talk, because the more you are talk and you cannot prove it, it means you only talk, you do not prove yourself," Tebogo said.

"But for me, I do not talk, I just let the legs do its thing. I think now, Lyles is humble. He knows what can happen in this sport. He wins today, tomorrow, he can lose it. I believe since Paris, he has been humble, he has not been talking so much."

Alfred, the Olympic 100m champion, cruised to victory in 10.76 in her first race in more than a month. She had withdrawn from two Diamond League meets due to what organisers said was an injury.

"I am surpassing the questions about my injuries," Alfred said. "It is my first race back in five weeks so it is one step forward to me. I am not thinking about the time.

"I feel like I want to add another gold in my collection. The season has been long, but when I compare myself now and at the beginning of