Noah Lyles beaten by compatriot Christian Coleman in World indoors 60m showdown
The American 1-2 was rounded out on the podium by Jamaica's Ackeem Blake at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow on Friday (1 March) with Coleman winning in a world-leading time of 6.41s.
The men's 60m final at the World Athletics Indoor Championships was always going to be explosive, and so it proved.
The world record holder in the distance, Christian Coleman beat his teammate and treble world champion Noah Lyles at the Glasgow arena on Friday (1 March) in a world-leading time of 6.41s.
Coleman's world record of 6.34s has stood since 2018.
Lyles secured silver in 6.44 with Ackeem Blake of Jamaica finishing with bronze (6.46).
Kenya's Ferdinand Omanyala finished just out of the medals in fourth on the same time as Sweden's Henrik Larsson in fifth (6.56s).
This is my event, said Coleman afterwards. Lyles, today, had no answer but was nevertheless happy to applaud his compatriot and grab them both a flag with which to celebrate their 1-2.
“Shoot, what an amazing indoor season,” said Lyles, who set a personal best of 6.44 seconds at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Boston just weeks before. “They say I wasn’t a 60 guy but look at me now. If I’m beating these guys in the 60m, they’ve really got no chance in the outdoors.”
The 2023 season confirmed Lyles as the dominant outdoor sprinter of today after claiming gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m – the latter alongside Coleman – at the Budapest-hosted championships. This year looks to be even bigger with the Paris 2024 Games starting in less than five months' time.
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That's not to say Lyles didn't enjoy his time in front of the raucous crowd.
Even during the morning heats, Lyles said how much he enjoyed the atmosphere of an indoor competition.
"The crowd is way closer. The energy is contained, which makes it a lot more enjoyable," said the gregarious American who rocked up to the arena in a customary dapper outfit. "I've always said that indoor is always the best way to receive a crowd.
"In terms of track and field outdoors, you know, the sound echoes and bounces everywhere, but in indoor, it just bounces off the walls and it just retains in that small, contained area, makes it a lot more energetic."
Another experience Lyles enjoyed was his introduction by the compere to the field of play.
"It's the first time I got to hear a six-time world champion in front of a world crowd," said the Florida native who secured his third consecutive 200m title in Hungary and also has a sprint relay gold from 2019.
"Every time I get to hear that it gets me pretty excited.
"In fact, I remember I was at Boston and they said, 'A man who needs no introduction', and I got really mad because I worked hard for all those accolades." Lyles smiled, before saying, "So you need to say them all".