The battle between the two Olympic sprints champions from Paris saw the American come out on top
Noah Lyles beat Letsile Tebogo in what was a much anticipated 200m clash at the Monaco Diamond League (July 11).
The pair secured respective gold medals in the 100m and 200m at the Paris Olympics last summer and this was the first time they had lined up against each other since the Games.
Lyles topped the Olympic 100m podium but his bid to add the 200m title to his name fell short, with Tebogo instead securing the crown in the French capital.
Afterwards, Lyles – who picked up bronze over half a lap in Paris – revealed that he tested positive for Covid-19 two days earlier.
The inimitable US athlete has raced sporadically this season and his last individual event was the 400m at April’s Tom Jones Memorial in Gainesville, Florida.
Tebogo on the other hand went into Monaco off the back of an impressive world-leading 19.76 that propelled him to victory over 200m at the Prefontaine Classic.
Not only were Lyles and Tebogo drawn in lanes next to each other (seven and six respectively) in Monaco but the 18,000 strong crowd at the Stade Louis II were also treated to a light show, building up the suspense for the race.
The pair both got out the blocks well and settled into their rhythm quickly, so it was no surprise that as the stagger unwound they had an edge on the rest of the field. Neck and neck going into the home straight, it was anyone’s call but, with around 50 metres to go, Lyles gradually pulled away from his rival and didn’t look back.
Lyles clocked 19.88 (-0.8) – the ninth fastest time of the season so far – to Tebogo’s 19.97. Zimbabwe’s Makanakaishe Charamba wasn’t too far off Tebogo in the end and ran 19.99 for a fine third place.
“The audience was amazing and showed a lot of love,” Lyles said. “That is always helpful for your first race, I put myself in the fire for that one coming back against Tebogo. I didn’t feel any pressure. I don’t see any reason to put pressure on myself I pray for times like this to be out here and do what I love.
“I’ve been missing competition over the past few weeks. I was watching Prefontaine Classic and I wanted to be there but we wanted to first make sure that I am healthy and fully able to compete. I have a bye for the US Trials which makes it less stressful because it gives us the time to work on the races, so I can see what works and what doesn’t.”
Tebogo meanwhile stated that he couldn’t complete his warm-up because the athletes were called earlier than expected from the call room.
“First of all, I am disappointed in my performance,” he said. “Back in the call room, they called us in earlier than expected so I did not do my whole warm-up. But that is not an excuse. All of us came and showed up. I am always on the game, that is why I sometimes look serious. I know what to work on.”
The 100m ended the night in Monaco and Julien Alfred did not disappoint, with the Olympic champion running 10.79 into a 1.4m/sec headwind.
The Saint Lucian just lost out to Melissa Jefferson-Wooden at last week’s Prefontaine Classic but she dominated in Monaco and laid down yet another marker this season. Jacious Sears and Zoe Hobbs placed second and third with 11.02 and 11.12 respectively.
“The season is going well so far,” said Alfred, who has clocked 10.75,10.77 and 10.79 so far this year. “The last week wasn’t the best for me and it showed me that I’m not where I should be and that there are things that I still need to work on.
“The season is long but I don’t have any trials so I will have time to work on the details. I took a step back and realise that I won’t put any pressure on myself this year. I was listening to all that outside noise but I focus on just Julien right now.
“I didn’t have my coach with me at the 2023 World Championships but he is going to travel with me to Tokyo. My coach has been with me since I was 17. It’s been a while given I am now 24. He knows me both inside and outside like a dad. He is also my mental coach and someone I can always talk to.”
The 3000m steeplechase was geared up to be a potential attempt on Lamecha Girma’s world record of 7:52.11 but the athletes fell way short of that mark. Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali dominated for most of the race but had to hold off a strong challenge from Japan’s Ryuji Miura to claim victory in 8:03.18, with Miura recording a national record of 8:03.43.
After a fine 1500m win at the Paris Diamond League, Nelly Chepchirchir continued her unbeaten streak this season with victory over 1000m in Monaco. Just a few months after Faith Kipyegon had challenged Svetlana Masterkova’s world 1000m record of 2:28.98 with 2:29.15, Chepchirchir also put her name high up on the all-time rankings.
The Kenyan produced a masterful run and became only the fourth woman in history to go sub-2:30 in the distance with 2:29.77. Both USA’s Addison Wiley and Australia’s Jess Hull recorded national records with 2:30.71 and 2:30.96 respectively. Jemma Reekie ran 2:31.44 for fifth.
Before Monaco, there were murmurs that David Rudisha’s world 800m record of 1:40.91 from London 2012 could be under threat. Given the calibre of the field, which included all eight Olympic finalists, it wasn’t out the realms of possibility.
In the end, Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi secured the win with 1:41.44 – the tenth fastest time in history – while America’s Josh Hoey continued his fine season with a personal best of 1:42.01 for second place. Six men went sub-1:43.
There are very few meeting records that Femke Bol doesn’t hold but Lashinda Demus’s 52.63 from 2009 was the mark to beat in Monaco.
Safe to say, the Dutch athlete didn’t have too much problem bettering it. Bol didn’t just surpass that time but she also improved Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s world lead of 52.07 with an impressive 51.95. Dalilah Muhammad, in her final season, clocked 52.58 – the US athlete’s fastest time in four years.
Over in the field, Mondo Duplantis couldn’t quite set a 13th world record in the pole vault, with the Swede failing on all three attempts at 6.29m. He did however set a meeting record of 6.05m for the win.
Sanghyeok Woo also looked strong in the high jump and he took the victory with a world-leading clearance of 2.34m.
Earlier in the evening, Australian sprints teen sensation Gout Gout won the under-23 200m race in 20.20 (-1.9).
