American sprint star Noah Lyles returned to the track in style, edging Botswana’s Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo in the men’s 200m at the Diamond League meeting in Monaco on Friday.
Lyles, 27, who hadn’t raced in the 100m or 200m all season and was competing in his first 200m event in 338 days, clocked an impressive 19.88 seconds to beat Botswana’s Tebogo, who finished in 19.97 seconds.
Tebogo had entered the race in top form, having set a world-leading time of 19.76 seconds at the Diamond League meet in Eugene earlier this month. He also famously beat Lyles at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where the American tested positive for COVID-19 after taking bronze.
“It was a great race. I’m really glad to be healthy,” said Lyles. “This shows I’m still in the game. I didn’t feel pressure going into it, even facing Tebogo again. This is what I love to do.”
Tebogo, 22, expressed disappointment but acknowledged the race gave him “an idea of what to work on” moving forward.
