Lyles the showman ready to deliver 100m entertainment
A crowd of 60,000 is expected to pack out the home stadium of Premier League club West Ham, which served as the venue for track and field during the 2012 Olympics in the British capital.
Lyles, with his outspoken persona, is used to being the poster boy for such meets, and the 28-year-old American said it would be no different this time around.
"It's definitely my type of place," Lyles said of London Stadium on Friday. "I love a big crowd and l like it even better when they're engaged and they want to be there and want to see something.
"Being a showman, I want to give them that show. I want to give them that entertainment, something they can't get just by watching on TV."
Lyles will pit himself against a host of handy rivals in the 100m, just his second outdoor race of a season whose start was delayed by a tendon injury in his ankle.
"I wouldn't say I'm nervous, I'd say I'm more excited than anything," he said.
"I've been waiting to start my season, of course injury prevents that."
Lyles, having run a 400m in April back in the United States, kicked off his season proper with victory over 200m in Monaco last weekend, clocking an impressive 19.88sec to edge Botswana's Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo into second.
"Thankfully I was very blessed to be able to get two byes, so I'm not rushing I would say," he said in reference to the US trials, widely regarded as one of the toughest selection processes given the strength in depth of US athletes, notably sprinters.
Having the byes had "taken a lot of weight and pressure off us".
"Things have been progressing extremely well, every day I get faster, and it's like 'OK, let's put it to the test, let's go up against great competition'.
"At the end of the day that's what you want: you want to be able to compete at the highest level with the highest people. If you don't come away with the victory it's like 'Woah I've got the fire in my belly now', and if you do great, it's like 'We're exactly where we want to be, let's keep pushing'."
- Three golds in Tokyo -
Lyles will be up against Tebogo again on Saturday, along with the British trio of Louie Hinchliffe, world indoor champion Jeremiah Azu and world 100m bronze medallist Zharnel Hughes.
The Jamaican duo of Oblique Seville and Ackeem Blake, and South African Akani Simbine fill out the field in what should be a top-notch blue riband race.
"I always want to win," admitted Lyles. "Winning is the most important, being able to hold your own in the strictest and most pressurised areas is what you want.
"A fast time never hurts as well! I'd love to run 9.8sec, 9.9 is the status quo for the season. The win is definitely the more important thing."
Turning to his season aims, Lyles was in no doubt about what he wanted at the September 9-21 world championships in Tokyo.
"Obviously, the goal is to win three gold medals again in Tokyo, like in Budapest," he said in reference to the 2023 worlds where he won both the 100 and 200m and was part of the winning US 4x100m relay team.
"We treat every race as an opportunity to get better, faster.
"As long as we're building up to make sure that Tokyo's our greatest moment and we have fun and we improve at each opportunity, that's the goal."
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By Luke Phillips
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