Lyles back, ready to 'run fast', as Tebogo lurks
Lyles will be up against Letsile Tebogo, the Botswanan who won Olympic 200m gold in Paris in a race when a Covid-hit Lyles came away with bronze.
"Everything's been telling me like my body's ready to run fast," Lyles said Thursday after recovering from an injury caused by what he said was a "freak accident", without disclosing more details.
"I've been waiting quite a while. I had an inflamed tendon and it prevented me from actually being able to jog or run. I couldn't put much pressure on it.
"I could walk, but other than walking, I couldn't really do much."
It was Lyles' first proper injury since one he sustained in his first year as a professional in 2017.
Lyles, who will race over 100m in London next week, added: "That was kind of disappointing just watching everybody race. But luckily I have the bye for the world championships and it still sets my season up to be really good."
Last season, the 27-year-old said, had made it tough to get back on the track in training after all the add-ons of becoming an Olympic 100m champion.
"I remember thinking 'Oh, this is too early'. I want to go out, I want to enjoy the fact that I won the medal and go to events and stuff like that.
"I ended up having to take a vacation because I wasn't able to in my off season and go and get away from track in the beginning of April because I was just so burnt out."
Turning to Friday's showdown with Tebogo, Lyles was confident.
"I've been having great practices," he said. "I really want to see that come together on the track. I have no reason to think that it won't. I'm going to say: yeah, I think I will run fast."
'A good story teller'
Tebogo scorched to an impressive 19.76 seconds for victory in the 200m at the Eugene Diamond League meet last week, but played down his own expectations.
"Tomorrow's race, I'm not expecting much," the Botswanan said.
"Eugene has really shown we're on the right track so tomorrow is about getting in to that new world lead again because it's a tough competition, so it's just to come out here and enjoy the race."
Turning to Lyles, known for his outspoken brashness compared to Tebogo's more muted style, he said: "We are people with different characteristics, everybody has his of her own characteristics.
"For me with Noah, he is a really good story teller, he sells events more than I do. Once he's there on the poster, people want to come and see him.
"For me, it's a bit different, I'm not out there like that."
But Tebogo insisted it was good to be competing against the big names.
"It really gets me ready for a championships because you already know how they feel during the Diamond Leagues," he said.
© 2025 AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
LeMonde
3 hours ago
- LeMonde
France football boss backs women's coach despite 'cruel' Euro loss
French Football Federation (FFF) president Philippe Diallo told Agence France-Presse on Monday he was backing women's coach Laurent Bonadei despite the "cruel disappointment" of France being knocked out at the quarter-final stage of Euro 2025. Les Bleues lost on penalties to a Germany side who played with 10 women for almost all of a gruelling encounter which finished 1-1 after extra-time. But for Diallo there's no question of sacking Bonadei. "After the Olympics, we put our faith in Laurent until the World Cup (in 2027) with the aim of helping this team make the transition from one generation to the next," said Diallo. "With 11 consecutive wins and a successful group stage (at the Euros), there are positive things to remember. But with a lot of humility, we have to get back to work, and that will be with Laurent Bonadei," he added. However, the federation president made no attempt to play down the heartbreak of failing to progress past the quarter-finals despite being a goal and a player up in normal time. Diallo described the loss to Germany as "a cruel disappointment," adding "everything had been put in place for this team to go much further in the tournament." "It's a real setback, the eighth time in the last nine major tournaments that France have been eliminated at the quarters," he added. "We're going to have to think with the coach and those in charge of women's football at the FFF about how we can work better." Bonadei did not include former captain Wendie Renard and France's highest scorer ever Eugénie Le Sommer in his squad. In the group phase, France beat reigning champions England 2-1 in their opening match before thrashing Wales 4-1 and outclassing the Netherlands 5-2.
France 24
15 hours ago
- France 24
Defending 200m champ Haughey out of swimming worlds with injury
The 27-year-old Haughey won freestyle silver in the 100m and 200m at the Tokyo Games in 2021 and took bronze in the same two events in Paris last year. "I have pulled out of the world championships in Singapore due to an ongoing back injury," Haughey posted on social media on Monday. "I'm sad to miss out on the opportunity to compete against the best in the world, but right now I have to do what's best for me," said Haughey, who took a four-month break from the sport at the beginning of this year and has only competed once since. "As elite athletes, we're trained to push through the pain and fatigue to keep going," she wrote. "Yet at certain moments, the brave and hard thing to do is to take care of your body and wait patiently. Luckily I have an incredible team supporting me." Haughey also won the 200m freestyle at the Doha world championships last year. She had been entered in the 100m and 200m free at the World Aquatic Championships in Singapore, where the pool swimming events will take place from July 27 to August 3. © 2025 AFP
LeMonde
2 days ago
- LeMonde
Women's Euro 2025: France banks on mental training to overcome knockout-stage nerves
When will the first title come? The question continues to haunt French women's football, reappearing after every disappointment and before each major tournament. The long-awaited breakthrough remains elusive. "It's always on our minds," former head coach of the French women's national team Hervé Renard admitted to Le Monde. "The media, you contribute to it… and rightfully so. But it's not easy to ignore that dimension." Renard spoke from experience, having led Les Bleues at the 2023 World Cup and the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Before heading to Switzerland for the European Championship, the French players were once again confronted with this recurring theme. At both the World Cup and the Olympics, their campaigns ended at the quarter-final stage. This disappointing pattern has repeated itself seven times in the last eight major international tournaments since 2013 (Euros, World Cups and Olympic Games). Facing Germany on Saturday, July 18, in Basel, the French side has a chance to book their place in the final four – a stage they have reached only once in the past 12 years, at the 2022 tournament in England.
