Noah Lyles runs wind-assisted 9.93s on 100m seasonal debut
World 200m champion beat Justin Gatlin in Showdown in Otown heats but both men skipped the final as Shaunae Miller-Uibo completed 200m/400m double in Florida
Athletics
Noah Lyles is back!
The 200m and 4x100m relay gold medallist at last year's World Championships ran 9.93s on his first outing of 2020 at the Showdown in Otown meet in Clermont, Florida.
The time was not a legal one with the wind measured at 4 m/s, twice the limit.
Lyles beat 2004 Olympic 100m champion Justin Gatlin into second place in their heat with the 38-year-old veteran clocking 9.99s.
Despite being the two fastest qualifiers, both men elected to skip the final which was won by Kenny Bednarek from Canada's three-time Olympic medallist Andre De Grasse.
De Grasse clocked 10.15s in the heats and 10.17s in the final with Bednarek taking victory in 10.14s.
Bednarek then went on to secure the 200m in 20.06s.
On social media afterwards, Lyles admitted that the meeting was deliberately lowkey to avoid many people turning up with Florida experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases.
Miller-Uibo impresses on return
Shaunae Miller-Uibo was another big name making her seasonal debut in Florida.
The reigning Olympic 400m champion ran twice on Saturday and was her usual impressive self.
The Bahamian runner took the 400m in 50.52s before clocking an excellent 22.61s to win the 200m.
Her husband, Estonia's world decathlon silver medallist Maicel Uibo, ran 11.08s in the 100m heats.
Sha'Carri Richardson was third in the 200m behind Miller-Uibo having run 11.05 to take victory in the 100m.
Last year, Richardson clocked 10.75s for the 100m which put her in the top 10 of all time for the short sprint.
Three-time Olympic gold medallist LaShawn Merritt was only third in the 400m behind reigning European champion Matthew Hudson-Smith.
The British runner edged out Colombian Olympian Jhon Alejandro Perlaza by just one-hundredth of a second, winning in 45.55s.
Nigeria's sub-20s 200m sprinter Divine Oduduru was back in fourth.
Two-time Olympic champion Christian Taylor was the only competitor in the triple jump with 16.75m his best effort.
He also ran in the 100m heats where he clocked 10.76s.
For full meeting results, click here.