Lyles Retains Status As World Champion At Rome Diamond League

Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles reaffirmed his status as the man to beat in the men’s sprint division after storming to victory at the Rome Diamond League on Thursday, 4 June, while Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala finished eighth in a star-studded field.

Lyles produced a season best of 9.88 seconds to claim top honours at the Golden Gala meeting held at the Stadio Olimpico, showcasing his trademark finishing speed to pull away from the competition in the closing metres.

The American, who won Olympic gold over 100m, arrived in Rome with his sights firmly set on victory and delivered exactly that despite facing one of the strongest sprint line-ups assembled this season.

“I am here to win. Ten metres before the finish line, I knew the race was over, and I had already won it. I was thinking about how I was going to celebrate it,” Lyles joked with the media after the race.

Race organisers heightened anticipation with a dramatic pre-race light show as fans packed the stadium for the sprint showdown.

Home favourite and Tokyo Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs received the loudest ovation from the crowd as he lined up alongside Lyles in the centre lanes, while Africa’s sprint stars Ferdinand Omanyala, Letsile Tebogo and Akani Simbine also featured.

Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme clocked a national record of 9.94 to finish second, edging Botswana’s Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo, who settled for third in a season best of 9.95.

South Africa’s Akani Simbine was sixth in 10.03 while Omanyala, the African record holder, crossed the line in 10.11 to place eighth in the nine-man field.

Elsewhere in Rome, Olympic champion Julien Alfred won the women’s 200m in 21.93 ahead of Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, while Trey Cunningham dipped under 13 seconds for the first time in his career, clocking 12.98 to break Allen Johnson’s 27-year-old meeting record in the men’s 110m hurdles.

In the women’s 400m hurdles, Slovakia’s Emma Zapletalová continued her impressive season by posting a world-leading 52.58.