Electrifying American Sprinter Noah Lyles Snaps Record Previously Held By Usain Bolt In 200-Meter Event

Usain Bolt still holds the world record for fastest time in the 200-meter flat, but Noah Lyles is right on his heels. The 26-year-old American track and field star ran the third-fastest time in history last July and broke a different kind of record held by the Jamaican legend on Sunday.

Lyles, who is currently No. 1 in the world in the event, won a bronze medal at the Olympic Games in Tokyo and will hope to defend his World Championship in Budapest next month. In the meantime, the once-Florida Gators commit is getting in as much practice as possible at Diamond League events.

Lyles was in London this weekend. Not only did he win the event, he snapped a record in the process.

Lyles got out to a good start, but his competition was right with him through the first 110(ish) meters. From there, the 5-foot-11 dynamo turned on his jets and pulled away down the straightaway to stay undefeated.

Lyles' world-leading time of 19.47 did not break Bolt's all-time fastest time of 19.19. However, it put him in a category of his own by going sub-20.

Over the course of his career, Lyles has run 35 sprints in a time under 20 seconds, and counting. Bolt, who last competed in 2017, ran 34 sprints under 20 seconds throughout his career.

If you haven't connected the dots — that means that Lyles has officially run more sub-20-second races in the 200-meter flat than Bolt. The latter may have run a faster time once, but the former has been more consistent in his dominance.

Lyles will next head to Hungary for the World Athletic Championships, which are set to begin on August 19. He also qualified in the 100-meter flat, so if he is to run the 1/2 double, he will be busy.

Noah Lyles' 100/200 schedule at Worlds:

Lyles did not run the 200 at Nationals. He automatically qualified for the event as the reigning champion.

It is unclear, but assumed that he will run the double. If so, here is what his week would look like:

Lyles has Bolt's world record in his sights and will hope to leave Budapest with two gold medals. If not, it is expected that he will go sub-20 in the 200 and further his record in that regard.