Erriyon Knighton and Noah Lyles set up mouthwatering 200m final at Track & Field Worlds
The American duo sail through safely to Thursday's final. New world 100m champion Fred Kerley bows out after 200m campaign curtailed in semis.
Athletics
It's on.
The USA's Erriyon Knighton and Noah Lyles look to be in blistering form heading into the final of the men's 200m at these World Athletics Championships in Oregon.
After Fred Kerley, the new world 100m champion who led home a USA podium sweep on Day 2 of the championships, failed to advance due to a cramp, the fourth and fifth fastest 200m runners in history both sailed through to the final, which takes place this Thursday 21 July at Hayward Field.
Lyles was up first, laying down a marker of 19.62 - the 21st fastest time in history - in heat two. Knighton responded in the third and final heat, hitting 19.77.
The crowd erupted when Knighton's time showed on the scoreboard as a new U20 world record. But the 18-year-old has gone faster, registering 19.49 in April, a time that is waiting to be ratified.
The Florida phenom sits only behind legends in the 200m pecking order, with Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake and Michael Johnson the only runners ever to have gone faster.
However, the man closest to him - just 0.01 seconds behind on 19.50 - is Lyles, who also beat his young compatriot in the final of June's US trials.
As always, Lyles sounded supremely confident after the race, even revealing he had been advised to go into beast mode in his semi: **"**I am exactly where I wanted to be because I got the win," he said, before later adding, "My coach told me to get out a little bit of the beast today. So I am going to let out the whole thing."
Knighton himself is aiming for more in the final as he looks for his first medal at a major international championship.
"I did what I had to do to get to the final round," he said. "I took it smooth. I do not feel pressure, not at all. I am going to do what I have got to do.
"There is a lot of fans on the stands who want to see the people run fast. My family and friends are coming so I will definitely try to get better."
Who comes out top in the final is anyone's guess. There are, of course, six others that could upset the favourites. All will be answered on Thursday at 19:50 local time when one of the most anticipated finals in recent history takes place in Oregon.
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