Noah Lyles laid down a hefty marker for next month’s World Athletics Championships by winning a thrilling 200m rematch against Letsile Tebogo of Botswana in the Diamond League final in Zurich.
Tebogo sprung a major surprise at last year’s Olympics by beating Lyles, who it later turned out had Covid. It looked as if a repeat was on the cards as Tebogo led from the gun but in the final strides the American finally got his vest in front to take victory – and the $30,000 (£22,000) prize – in 19.74sec, with Tebogo 0.02 back in second.
It was a much-needed confidence booster for Lyles after two recent defeats in the 100m, as he took his sixth Diamond League final win.
“Six in a row, the most in track!” said Lyles. “It is pretty nice to have that. I saw Letsile lean on the finish line but I knew I won. I knew if I panicked I was not going to win. If you are tight you are done for.”
Elsewhere it was a good night for British athletes as Max Burgin nearly took down the men’s Olympic 800m champion and Georgia Hunter Bell ran a personal best in the women’s 800m.
Burgin has long been compared to Sebastian Coe, but a series of injuries has left the 23-year-old unable to fulfil his potential. But he will gain immense confidence slugging it out with Emmanuel Wanyonyi before finishing in 1min 42.42sec, his second quickest time.
“Today was a bit of a world championships field, like a test,” said Burgin, who was just 0.05 behind Wanyonyi in second. “I am dreaming of being at the exact same position at the worlds.”
Hunter Bell was just as impressive as she weaved her way from fifth to second in the final 200m to finish in 1:55.96 – a career-best time by half a second and the third fastest time in British history, behind her training partner Keely Hodgkinson and Jemma Reekie.
However the Briton, who has opted to run the 800m rather than the 1500m in Tokyo, was unable to get past the young Swiss star Audrey Werro, who delighted the home fans to win in 1:55.91.
Sebastian Coe has said World Athletics’ decision to introduce mandatory female sex-verification testing last month has now been “overwhelmingly” backed by athletes.
The World Athletics president acknowledged that there had been challenges with getting everyone tested in time for the world championships in Tokyo in September, but revealed that over 90% of competitors had now undergone the cheek-swab SRY gene test.
“First of all, the athletes are overwhelmingly supportive of this, and have been very, very helpful in all this,” he said. “And the member federations have also been very, very supportive.
“The objective is to make sure that by the time we have the championships the athletes will have all been tested. The time frame was tight. And it wasn’t without its challenges. But there will be athletes that will be tested, even in their holding camps in Tokyo. We’re hitting slightly more than 90% now.”
The SRY gene reveals the presence of the Y chromosome, which is the indicator of biological sex. The test was also approved by World Boxing when it introduced mandatory sex testing for all boxers.
Coe acknowledged that some competitors had struggled to get tested, with the broadcaster CBC in Canada quoting an unnamed athlete saying they had to drive five hours to get a test. But he said that such cases were unusual, and those who hadn’t yet been tested would have the cheek-swab test when they arrived in Japan.
“By and large the process has gone pretty smoothly, but it’s not been without its challenges,” he said. “France has its own national laws around it, so many of their athletes have been tested outside of the country. And those that haven’t been yet will be tested in their holding camps in Japan. But the vast majority have been pretty straightforward.”
