Lyles races to third 200m world title after some serious self-reflection

BUDAPEST : American sprinter Noah Lyles did some serious self-reflection after finishing third in the 200 metres at the Tokyo Olympics - it was his distance and he deserved to win, or so he thought.

Armed with a new mindset, the 26-year-old on Friday stormed to his third consecutive 200m title at the World Championships and, after his victory in the 100m five days earlier, became the first man since Usain Bolt in 2015 to win the sprint double.

"I knew that many guys were coming out here with the idea of taking this from me and, to be honest, they have the ability to and, after what happened in Tokyo, I said I don't believe in 'deserving to win' anymore," Lyles said.

"You take the win. And today I had to take that win again. Just because I won it two years in a row does not mean that it belongs to me."

While Lyles had to fight for the lead through the corner, he found another gear coming off it and ran alone over the final 80 metres to win in 19.52 seconds.

His team mate Erriyon Knighton clocked 19.75 for silver, while Letsile Tebogo of Botswana captured the bronze in 19.81.

Lyles made a bold prediction he would run 19.10 in a recent Instagram post, which would have bettered Bolt's world record of 19.19, but his time was not even his best this season, just shy of the 19.47 he ran at the London Diamond League last month.

But he has learned to look at his performances with a more forgiving eye.

"Of course I wanted to be faster, or at least wanted to break the American record again," Lyles said of the 19.31 he ran to break Michael Johnson's U.S. record in winning last year's worlds in Eugene.

"After my sixth race (including heats and semi-finals), and still running 19.5, I can't be sad with that.

"I remember when I won my first