L. MathekaNaoh Lyles targeting 60m world title after Boston triumph
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Reading Time: 3min | Tue. 06.02.24. | 10:32
The meeting record also fell in the men’s 60m hurdles as two-time world champion Grant Holloway extended his unbeaten streak in the event to a 10th year
On a day when nine meeting records fell at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, perhaps the one with the biggest impact came from Noah Lyles as the US sprinter charged to a 6.44 victory over 60m at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Boston on Sunday 4 February.
Last year Lyles showed that he was more than just a 200m specialist by taking gold over 100m, 200m and 4x100m at the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23.
After winning the 60m in Boston, the 26-year-old declared that he has his sights set on winning a world title over the shortest sprint discipline in Glasgow next month.
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He won his heat in 6.54, finishing 0.05 ahead of 2018 world indoor bronze medallist Ronnie Baker. Domestic rival Fred Kerley, the 2022 world 100m champion, won the second heat in 6.57 – a PB by default, given it was his first-ever indoor 60m race.
Kerley got off to a strong start in the final, but it was Jamaica’s Ackeem Blake who then powered into a lead and he looked to be on his way to victory. But, as he often does in his outdoor races, Lyles timed his finish to perfection with a late-race surge to get to the finish line first in 6.44.
Not only was it a PB by 0.07 and a world-leading mark, it also shaved 0.01 off the meeting record set 25 years ago by Maurice Greene. Blake was a close second in 6.45 and Baker took third in 6.54, just 0.01 ahead of Kerley.
"I knew that my first 10 metres are always going to be kind of sluggish, but so long as I’m next to everybody, I don’t care," said Lyles. "All I was thinking about was winning. That’s all that matters.”
“My confidence has now skyrocketed," he added. “Let’s go get a world indoor medal!”
USA’s Tia Jones got the evening off to an explosive start, winning the 60m hurdles in a world-leading meeting record of 7.72.
In what was the first discipline on the main programme, Jones was up against world leader Devynne Charlton and outdoor world record-holder Tobi Amusan.
Both of those women performed at or near their best, but it wasn’t enough to catch Jones, who powered through to win in 7.72, just 0.04 shy of the world indoor record.
Amusan was second in an African record of 7.75 while Charlton was close behind in third in 7.76, just 0.01 shy of her recent Bahamian record. For the first time in history, four women broke 7.85 in one race as Masai Russell took fourth in 7.84.
“The race was pretty clean, but we still have some work to do,” said Jones, the 2018 world U20 champion. “I’ve been having trouble with my start, but if I can get that first half right, then I can get closer to the world record.”
The meeting record also fell in the men’s 60m hurdles as two-time world champion Grant Holloway extended his unbeaten streak in the event to a 10th year.
The world indoor record-holder equalled his meeting record of 7.37 to win his heat, while 2022 world silver medallist Trey Cunningham took the other heat in a season’s best of 7.44.
Additional reporting by World Athletics
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