Thompson defeats Lyles in the rematch for the Olympic final in Silesia
Jamaican Kishane Thompson set a high standard before next month’s world championships by beating Olympic champion Noah Lyles in the highly anticipated 100-meter race at the Silesia Diamond League meeting on Saturday.
As soon as she started, Thompson was unbeatable, and Lyles, who usually has a slow start, ran strong at the end, but Thompson won in 9.87 seconds, while Lyles ran a season-best 9.90 seconds. Third was Kenny Bednarek.
Although there were no world records set, the crowd in the hot sun saw some great acts, including Olympic and world champions getting ready for September’s Beijing Olympics.
Faith Kipyegon came exceedingly close to breaking the world record for women’s 3,000m, and Keely Hodgkinson won her first race back in the 800m.
Lyles and Thompson, both Americans, competed in the men’s sprint for the first time since their memorable Olympic final in Paris last year. Lyles beat Thompson by.05.001 seconds.
Everyone wanted to be in this race, especially Bednarek, who had just a fight with Lyles. A angry exchange happened between the two Americans earlier this month at the U.S. Championships. Lyles looked down at Bednarek as they approached the finish line, and Bednarek shoved Lyles back.
Because of an ankle injury, Lyles’ season was delayed, but he didn’t seem upset about losing. He was happy to have broken 10 seconds for the first time this year and was signing pictures for fans.
“It’s a great starting point. Lyles said, “I needed to see a sub-10.”
“Today, I got rid of some really big heads, guys who run 9.7 and 9.8. I’m getting better at running when I do it.
KIPYEGON CLOSE
Kimpyegon of Kenya tried to beat Wang Junxia of China’s 8:06.11 time from 1993. He left the rest of the runners behind from the start, staying close to the leaders.
With more than two laps to go, Kipyegon kept going and pushed himself to the finish line. But the world record holder for the 1,500-meter and mile race fell from exhaustion after falling short by less than a second, finishing in 8:07.04.
“To be honest, I did not see the clock on the finish line because I was so tired,” Kipyegon stated.
“I saw the world-record red line during the race but today it was very hot.”
In the outstanding women’s 400m race, which included seven of last year’s Olympic finalists, Marileidy Paulino, the defending champion, had the best finish, passing Salwa Eid Naser in the last few meters to match the 1-2 finish from Paris.
World record holder Tobi Amusan came in third, but Olympic gold medalist Masai Russell looked great in the 100m hurdles. She led from the start and won in 12.19 seconds, beating out fellow American Tonea Marshall.
With an amazing comeback in the women’s 800m, Hodgkinson ran in her first race since August in Paris, when she hurt her hamstring.
Briton set a world-leading time of 1:54.74 to beat Kenya’s Lilian Odira and win.
In the women’s 200m, world champion Shericka Jackson beat American Brittany Brown by a season’s best time of 22.17 seconds. In the men’s 400m hurdles, world record leader Karsten Warholm won dramatically in 46.28 seconds, the third-fastest time ever.
While Mondo Duplantis did win the pole vault, it was disappointing for him and the Polish crowd because his best jump of 6.10 meters was 20 centimeters shorter than the record he set in Budapest on Tuesday, five days after breaking the world record for the 13th time.
In the last race of the day, female sprinter Melissa Jefferson-Wooden won the 100-meter race, keeping her perfect record for the year. She beat Jamaican Tia Clayton to win in 10.66 seconds.
Sha’Carri Richardson, the world champion and Olympic silver medalist, came in sixth. He hasn’t won this distance yet during 2025.
