The men’s 100 meter finals wrapped up at the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials on Sunday night, with Noah Lyles, Kenny Bednarek, and Fred Kerley all punching their tickets to Paris. Lyles emerged victorious with a personal best time of 9.83 seconds. Bednarek, and Kerley came in second and third, with respective times of 9.87 and 9.88.
“[Winning was] part of the plan. Nothing changed,” Lyles told NBC Sports after the race. “Might be a shock to everybody else, but when you know the goal, you know the goal.
“Three years ago, I got second-to-last. This year I came and won it,” he continued. “If I didn’t get that third place in Tokyo, I wouldn’t have had that desire, wouldn’t have had that fire burning. I wouldn’t have accomplished what I accomplished in the past, and now, we constantly look to the future with open eyes as anything can happen.”
Defending world champion Lyles previously clinched a spot in the trial finals with a wind-aided time of 9.80 seconds, while Bednarek, the 200m silver medalist at the Tokyo Games, inished second. Courtney Lindsey and Kerley, the 2022 world champion, advanced to the finals in the other heat with wind-aided times of 9.88 and 9.89, respectively.
Said Bednarek: “I just stayed calm and collected. I knew what I had in me, and I just executed the race, it was plain and simple. That’s all I needed to do. I’m happy to make the team. I got edged out in the Tokyo trials by this man right here [Fred Kerley]. But, I’m finally getting a hang of the 100, and the sky’s the limit for me.”
Fans may remember Lyles from his viral comments surrounding the NBA Finals, where its winners were considered “world champions,” to which he emphatically responded, “World champion of what?! The United States?!”
The incoming group of Team USA men’s 100m sprinters will look to build upon a strong performance by the Olympians who ran in Tokyo. Kerley took home silver in the men’s 100m final, notching a time of 9.84, while Ronnie Baker ran his personal best of 9.83 in the semifinals and ultimately finished fifth in the final with a time of 9.95. The team fared better in the 200m final, with Lyles claiming bronze and Knighton finishing fourth alongside Bednarek’s silver medal. It’s been two decades since a member of Team USA claimed gold at the men’s 100m at the Olympics with Justin Gatlin being the last to do in the 2004 Athens Games.
The Paris Games Opening Ceremony will be Friday, July 26, and the men’s 100m races are scheduled to begin Saturday, Aug 3.
