The men’s 100m
The men’s 100m was absolutely stacked. Noah Lyles, 2024 Olympic 100m champion. Marcell Jacobs, 2021 Olympic 100m champion; Olympic gold and silver at 200m; Jeremiah Azu and Trayvon Bromell, both former World Indoor 60m winners, etc
But why bother running it, since everyone knew Noah Lyles would win it… except that he didn’t. The result was:
1Trayvon Bromell 9.91
2 Noah Lyles 9.92
3 Marcell Jacobs 9.96
4 Akani Simbini 9.97
5 Anthony Jordan 9.99
6 Ferdinand Omanyala 10.02
7 Andre de Grasse 10.02
8 Jeremiah Azu 10.18
Anthony Jordan must be scratching his head about how you can run sub-10 in June and still come fifth!
At the press conference before the event, Lyles set out his stall: “My goal this season is still to have fun and provide the greatest performances everywhere I go. I don’t think about Bolt’s records. My goal every day, every month and every year is to be better than yesterday. All I can control is myself. With Jordan Anthony, I have to prove every day that I am the faster guy in the group; that’s something I love.
Facing Marcell Jacobs, the previous Olympic champion? The question is for him, not for me! Is he ready? I’m ready to go; they have to step up for the challenge. I proved what I had to prove in Rome. To me, the big point for Sunday is beating Jordan, and winning. Time doesn’t mean anything for the American watchers. The most important thing is to win. And what is a PB if I get beaten? Who remembers the ones who lost ?”
Ironically, Lyles fulfilled his goals – of beating Jacobs and Jordan. He just forgot Bromell!
I first met Trayon in 2016 in Portland when he won the 60m World Indoor title and have seen him a few times since. He is an engaging character. “He told me in Paris: “I’m feeling good. There are definitely things I can clean up. I’m in a good place. I don’t like to compare previous seasons. Training is going well as far as taking small little details. There are things we haven’t done yet, but we are doing them gradually. I think my next race will be a good one and the rest of the season as well. My training hasn’t changed that much over the years. I like doing the same things. I am blessed to have always had good coaches”.
That he is enjoying what he is doing also came out clearly in his official flashquote: “I really liked my start; I pushed the wheel. I didn´t let the race get in my head. I know I have so much more in my tank; the times and biomechanical data make me excited for the season. In Eugene, I will go nuts. After that, I will take a short break to wait for my son to enter this world. I just love competing; I have a lot of great people on my team and competitors that push me. I am just excited to run”.
