LONDON — American world champion Noah Lyles ran a personal best of 9.81 seconds in the 100 meters Saturday in the final Diamond League meeting before the Paris Olympics.
Lyles, one of the biggest names in the sport at the moment, delivered in the final race of the day, clipping two hundredths off his best time in front of a sellout crowd of 60,000, easily the largest on the Diamond League circuit.
South African Akani Simbine took second in 9.86 while Letsile Tebogo of Botswana was third in 9.88 as the first five broke 10 seconds.
Lyles has developed into one of the biggest personalities in athletics. Having taken the 100-meter world title in Budapest last year to add to three world titles, and an Olympic bronze, in the 200, he is becoming the man to beat in the blue-ribbon event.
“That was fun,” said Lyles, who was sluggish out of the blocks but supreme over the second half of the race. “I could have had a better start, but the transitions were great and coming away with a PB, this has been what I prayed for and what I wanted.”
In the women’s 200 meters,…
