Noah Lyles wins 100 meters at U.S. trials to clinch Olympic berth - ESPN

EUGENE, Ore. — To understand how Noah Lyles found himself wearing a gold medal at the U.S. Olympic trials late Sunday night, go back, he says, to this past winter.

Across one monthlong stretch in February and March, he entered a trio of 60-meter indoor races. He believes they were key in helping him qualify for the Olympics for the first time in an event long deemed his second best: the 100 meters.

«That was the goal [at trials]: Win from the 60 meters each time,» Lyles said. «That's why I did so many 60s indoor. I was preparing, getting faster and faster each time.»

Lyles got so fast late in Sunday's 100-meter final that when he hit top speed and eased away from his eight competitors still meters short of the finish line, he extended his right arm high into the pre-dusk sky and pointed to the heavens in early celebration.

It was his sudden realization that after a shaky showing in the event at the last U.S. trials, he was finally going to compete for Olympic gold in it. His seventh-place finish at the trials for the Tokyo Games three years ago didn't qualify him for the 100 meters; he was limited instead to the 200 meters and in the 4x100-meter relay.

During Sunday's first-place, 9.83-second finish, Lyles crossed just ahead of the two American men who will join him in Paris as 100-meter participants: Kenny Bednarek (9.87 seconds) and Fred Kerley (9.88 seconds). All three are making their second Olympic appearances.

«It's go time,» said Kerley, the 100-meter silver medalist at the Tokyo Games. «Hey, the season started today. So it's only up and forward.»

Like Lyles, Bednarek has spent this year trying to shake the moniker that he's really only a 200-meter runner. Sunday's silver-medal result proved he can also handle the