Noah Lyles and his immense confidence are ready to lead the American team in Paris

EUGENE, Ore. — The world’s fastest man did a completely fuzzy routine again Saturday. His name is Noah Lyles, and in the time it took him to write that sentence, he was halfway through the Olympic qualifying final in the 200 meters. He ran the second half even faster.

Facing a field of sprinters with more merit than there were Olympic spots available, Lyles took to the Hayward Field track shortly before 7 p.m. local time. He wore yellow Spandex, his determination in every stride and a steely gaze. His main competitors, Kenny Bednarek and Erriyon Knighton, were introduced just before him. But let’s be honest: Lyles’ biggest competition at this point in the Paris Olympics will be whether he can meet his own standards, running the times he wants to run. If he can, he’ll bring home a couple of gold medals, and a new place in the American sporting consciousness.

Lyles seemed to understand that – both the stakes and how irrelevant he was willing to make them – before the gunshot rang out. No Yu-Gi-Oh! cards were removed from his athletic uniform this time. Instead, when the time came for his presentation, Lyles leaned back and raised both arms to the sky, palms outstretched, neck bent, face pointed upward. When the public address announcer said his name, he dropped both arms and let out a scream so primal that a human with elite hearing could have heard it in Portland, more than 100 miles away North.

That’s not even how Lyles spoke the loudest. His performance attracted attention. He started fast, catching Knighton, the remarkably fast 20-year-old, at the turn. Bednarek then led the other two. But Lyles arrived, each step eating away at the deficit. He was sprinting, sure, but he looked almost like a thoroughbred galloping down the straight. He won. And not only did he win, again, just like last weekend in the 100-meter final, he won easily, breaking a 200-meter trials record that had stood for 28 years.

At the finish line, Lyles leaned forward, then swaggered to a halt. He nodded, blew a kiss and pointed to the sky. But even though he ran the world’s fastest 200-meter time this year, he didn’t celebrate. He certainly didn’t run half a lap around the track like he did last weekend after his triumph in the 100-meter final. Maybe Lyles reacted that way because the 200 is his specialty. Or maybe he’s beyond prepared.

“There’s a lot of confidence,” he said afterwards. It didn’t seem like bragging. He looked like a man who knows. It’s the same. “The world is ready,” Lyles said. “I can say I am too. »

Any American sports fan looking for an athlete to follow in Paris next month would be well advised to study Lyles. That try record he broke on Saturday once belonged to Michael, goddamn Johnson. Those last 20 meters, Lyles looked like he was floating, which at least suggests he’ll be able to run even faster…in a month…with the whole world watching.

In other words, Lyles appears to be heading into the next Olympics in the best possible position. It’s mental. It’s physical. These are the superpowers of Yu-Gi-Oh! committed. If he wins the 100 and 200 in Paris, it won’t be a surprise in the least. And even less for him.

If Lyles’ previous 200-meter heats looked easy, well, they also played out that way for the sprinter. In his 200-meter semifinal, Lyles ran a 19.60, which would have set a new U.S. Olympic Trials mark, had it not been for the wind. He later expressed shock when he entered, saying “it was easy” and that he “wasn’t even really trying.”

Anyone who has landed near Lyles’ orbit in recent weeks has been able to sense the confidence and assurance that marked his every step and every sentence. He gave honest answers after the races and, of course, that may have been seen as bravado. It’s not serious. The truth often does.

Last weekend, Lyles won a tight, fast and breathtaking 100-meter final. He triumphed over an elite field of competitors. He finished in 9.83 seconds, 0.04 seconds ahead of second-place Kenny Bednarek and 0.05 seconds faster than third-place Fred Kerley. Poor Olympic silver medalist Christian Coleman ran 9.93 seconds and finished a relatively distant fourth.

Lyles, meanwhile, put on a one-man show. He showed off rare Yu-Gi-Oh! cards from his jersey before races. For the 100-meter final, Snoop Dogg practically escorted Lyles onto the track.

His coach, Lance Brauman, told Lyles to “go out and take care of business.” There was nothing else to say. Lyles, both in the way he ran and in what he said, went into those races with the best determination he could muster. He knew how he had trained. His mental health was strong. In other words, he won before he even came to Hayward Field for the trials. All he had to do was prove it.

Yet this case Brauman referred to … he and Lyles understood that the last American 100-meter champion was only halfway done. The good news: The 100 is not his best event; the 200 is. Lyles has spoken openly about not thinking when he runs in trials, about running the shortest sprint the way he usually sprints the longest. “Every time I get that feeling, it makes the race that much more confident,” he said last weekend.

With another weekend of preliminary competitions awaiting the U.S. team, Friday’s track and field events took on added importance, because of the scene they could create. The men’s and women’s 200-meter finals took place over the same two-hour period Saturday evening, in front of a near-capacity crowd at the athletics stadium, with the tower and sprinters towering below.

All delivered. Sha’Carri Richardson. Gabby Thomas. Lyles, Bednarek and Knighton. All were fast. All would be in the finals on Saturday. In the 100-meter hurdles semifinals, a total of 13 competitors ran qualifying times fast enough to meet their event’s automatic Olympic qualifying standards.

Minutes later, the women’s 200-meter final began. Richardson, in her semifinal, had matched her personal best (21.92 seconds). She had watched Thomas, a bronze medalist in the event in Tokyo, reply, “Hold my beer,” in 21.78, good for the fastest time in the world this year.

“I was really happy. It seemed like a smooth, easy race,” Thomas said. Happy with her race, without a doubt. But she’s probably also happy with her decision to focus on the 200m and not try to compete at that distance and 400m.

“This is my year,” she added.

Then, Saturday night, she went out and proved herself right. Just like Lyles would.

On the starting line of this final, Richardson looked more serious than before her 100-meter triumph last weekend. She swung the same way, but she wasn’t as bombastic. There were fewer smiles, fewer waves, and the joy she expressed before the 100 final was replaced by a more serious expression on her face. Maybe that was a sign, too.

Thomas got off to a good start and only picked up the pace from there. She took the lead for good down the stretch, as NBC’s coverage switched from Hayward Field to the celebration filmed for her family in Florida. Richardson finished fourth. She will go to Tokyo, but will only compete in the 100.

Brittany Brown ran a personal best time, 0.09 seconds behind Thomas, who ran a best time of 21.81 seconds, to finish second. McKenzie Long, just 23 and the reigning NCAA champion in the 100, 200 and 4X100 relay, continued her strong spring/summer season by finishing third in 21.91 seconds.

“They’re sending such a great team to Paris,” one NBC analyst said.

Indeed. Sydney McLaughlin ran her 400-meter hurdles semifinal heat right after. Her time of 52.48 seconds was nearly a half-second ahead of the next competitor. Expect more of that soon, in Paris, where the U.S. team is looking to realize its lofty ambitions with a medal haul not seen in decades. It starts with Lyles, who seems destined to become a top-flight international celebrity. There is confidence. And there is him, in Hayward, this week. It feels more like certainty: of what was to come and, now, of what lies ahead.