Noah Lyles highlights areas of improvement after Silesia Diamond League defeat

Reigning Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles has vowed to sharpen his execution after finishing second to Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson at the Silesia Diamond League held on Saturday, 16 August.

The race in Chorzów was the pair’s first head-to-head clash since last summer’s dramatic Paris Olympic final, where Lyles snatched gold by just five-thousandths of a second.

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This time, Thompson turned the tables with a blistering 9.87 seconds, in the process equalling the meet record jointly held by Ronnie Baker and Fred Kerley.

Lyles, who endured the slowest reaction time in the nine-man field, powered through the closing stages but left himself with too much to do, crossing second in 9.90. Fellow American Kenny Bednarek completed the podium in 9.96.

The victory extended Thompson’s unbeaten 100m streak this season to seven races, five of which have been under 10 seconds, including his stunning 9.75 at the Jamaican trials in June, the sixth-fastest time in history.

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Despite the setback, Lyles said the performance was exactly what he needed at this stage of the season.

“It’s exactly what I needed to see. I needed to see sub-10, I needed to see winning, beating people. I took off some really big hits. I saw people who ran 9.7; a lot of people ran 9.8, and they still lost. So winning and beating people, I’d say, is the most important thing right now. It gives me confidence, and it’s a stepping stone,” he said after the race.

The American, who has gradually built momentum since the Paris Games, believes his trademark top-end speed remains his biggest weapon but admits the first phase of his race requires more fine-tuning.

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“I’m in shape where I just have to keep running top-end. The more I run, the better I’m getting. I just need to keep competing. I think we’re going to see something really good next week in Lausanne, something special.

I don’t work as much on my top-end as I do on my first 60. The top-end is my gift. If I set up the first 60, then the top-end is going to do its job,” Lyles noted.

With the Diamond League circuit heading to Lausanne, Lyles is determined to rebound and build on the lessons from Chorzów as the season edges closer to its climax.

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