Oregon 22 World Athletics Champs, Day Seven: Records. Medals. A Sweep. A champion. One race. One country.

This is how Sam Fariss wrote about the Men’s 200 meters, as Noah Lyles defended his 200m title from Doha 2019 and broke the AR of one Michael Johnson. 

Records. Medals. A sweep. A champion. One race. One country.

By Sam Fariss

The 200-meter final was filled to the brim with talented sprinters, including three Americans: Noah Lyles, Kenneth Bednarek, and Erriyon Knighton. The men of Team USA have once again swept the top three positions in the final of the World Athletics Championships. 

Bednarek earned silver at the Tokyo Olympic Games, finishing just behind Canada’s Andre De Grasse, who was entered into the opening heats of world championships but scratched himself from the race. 

Knighton, just 18 years old, entered into the final with the fourth fastest time ever recorded by a man, only behind Jamaica’s Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake.

Lyles was walking onto the world stage as the defending World Athletics Championships gold medalist in the 200 meters, but he fell into third place in Tokyo last year. He crossed the line first with a jaw-dropping time of 19.31 seconds – making him the American record holder and the first American since Calvin Smith (1983, 1987) to win consecutive world championship gold medals.

“Today is my day. I finally got to do what I dreamed of,” Lyles said.

His record-breaking time earned Lyles a place as the third fastest time ever recorded in the 200-meter sprint. Michael Johnson, the previous American record holder, approached Lyles after his celebration had concluded to congratulate him.

Before the race, Johnson had joined Citius Mag to talk about the upcoming showdown in his old race and had quite high remarks to make about the American men.

“It’s set up to be an amazing race,” Johnson said. “Noah says, ‘My speed is superior, and I know that,’ and Erriyon said, ‘It’s not over so, it’s perfect.”

Bednarek finished in second with a time of 19.77 seconds, a season-best for the 23-year-old American. And the young gun Knighton, who had held the world leaders before the starting gun fired, crossed the line in third with an impressive time of 19.80 seconds to earn bronze.

“It feels good to win my first one, and I hope for more in the future,” Knighton said. “It feels good to become the youngest medallist; there’s more to do in the future.

This sweep by the United States is the second for the male sprinters from Team USA as Fred Kerley, Marvin Bracy, and Trayvon Bromell finished one-two-three in the 100-meter final on Saturday.