Lyles slams door on 100m field at US Championships

NEW YORK, July 24 : Noah Lyles underlined his claim as the king of American track again on Friday, winning the 100 metres final in a world-leading 9.79 seconds at the U.S. Championships, in an "off year" in which he is still determined to put on a show.

The Olympic champion exploded out of the blocks at Icahn Stadium and his lead was never in doubt as he broke the tape 0.09 seconds ahead of Ronnie Baker, with Kenny Bednarek taking third in front of the New York crowd.

The win saw Lyles equal his personal best set at the spine-tingling final at the Paris Games two years ago and send a message: "Just because it is an off year doesn't mean that I plan to run slow."

"I'm not even doing what I know I can do. We're not at peak. We're not at perfect technique. We're nowhere near that. So I'm going to keep asking for more," said Lyles, who also plans to run the 200m on Saturday. "Why settle for less?" 

RICHARDSON, LUTKENHAUS SUPERB IN NEW YORK

The U.S. championships typically serve as a qualifying meet for the world championships or Olympics and were deprived of some of their usual drama with neither of the global showpiece events on the calendar this time around. 

But fans who made the trip to New York's Randall's Island were nonetheless treated to a handful of American track's most appealing stars on Friday, with the 2023 world champion Sha'Carri Richardson making mincemeat of a diminished women's 100m field.

Richardson cruised through the semi-finals with a wind-aided 10.78 and clinched the title in 10.77, with Kayla White (10.90) and Tamari Davis (11.00) a distant second and third, and breezed past reporters nearly as quickly as she crossed the finish line.

The 17-year-old sensation Cooper Lutkenhaus won his 800m opening heat in