SLICK NOAH’S LYLES BETTER
WORLD ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS
NOAH LYLES illuminated the world championship to leave his rivals chasing shadows as he bolted to 200 metres gold.
The charismatic American, 23, proved just why he has been tipped as sprinting’s new star by storming to victory last night in 19.83 seconds.
But Britain’s big hope Adam Gemili was left in tears after fading to fourth over the last few strides.
It was Canada’s Andre de Grasse who took silver with bronze for Ecuador’s Alex Quinonez.
Lyles said: “I was aiming for 19.3. I’ve said all along this was my year to win the world MARK WOODS IN DOHA championships. My coach told me to light it up and I’d been waiting to hear those words. It was about letting it all go here.”
For Gemili there was just desperate disappointment. He said: “I’m gutted. I had nothing left at the end. All my form went out of the window.
“I ran like an amateur, I can’t believe it, I came so close.
“This was such a good chance. I had the medal and it slipped out of my hands.”
Lyles’ journey has been remarkable. In his teens he battled depression and asthma, also weaning himself off medication for attention deficit disorder. Now he’s set for another fight – to become the true heir to Usain Bolt’s highspeed throne at the Tokyo Olympics next summer.
He added: “I’m planning to double up there in the 100m.”
Beth Dobbin reckons she blew the opportunity of her life after exiting the 200m in the semi-finals.
If she’d come within a fraction of her Scottish record, Dobbin would have gone through to tonight’s final with several contenders – including Olympic champion Elaine Thompson – having opted out.
Instead, Dobbin was baffled why she ended up in sixth place, running 23.11 secs, before watching team-mate Dina Asher-Smith ease through. Dobbin said: “It was there for the taking. I probably won’t have that opportunity again.
“All the big names have dropped out except Dina. It’s crazy. It’s annoying but more so because I don’t know why.”
Asher-Smith now looks unstoppable, set to upgrade her 100m silver to gold after qualifying quickest in 22.16 secs.
Zak Seddon scraped seventh in the 3000m steeplechase semis to become the UK’s first finalist in the event since Scotland’s Tom Hanlon in 1993.
But Euro champ Matthew Hudson-Smith’s chase for a 400m medal was undone in the heat by a pulled hamstring.