FONTVIEILLE, MONACO, July 11 — A relatively late entry in Monaco’s Diamond League, Noah Lyles said he had to wait for the right time to open up his season over 200m. “I have been missing competing for the last few weeks,” he said. “I was watching Prefontaine and I wanted to be there, but we wanted first to make sure that I am healthy and fully able to compete.”
He timed it right, proving he will once again be the man to beat by taking on Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo and coming out on top in their first matchup since Paris. Tebogo got out best and ran an inspired turn, entering the straight even with Lyles, who was on the outside. For a while, it looked as though either could win, then Lyles summoned more power near the finish. Tebogo, sensing defeat, let up in the final steps.
Lyles 19.88 into a 0.8 headwind; Tebogo 19.97, barely holding off Zimbabwe’s Makanakaishe Charamba, who sprinted 19.99 fresh off his collegiate season for Auburn.
Said Lyles, who had not raced since a 400m outing on April 19, “I put myself in the fire for that one coming back against Tebogo. I didn’t feel any pressure.”
Much of the pre-meet hype had focused on the 800, which brought together 5 of the 7 fastest men of all time. While it may not have turned out to be the race that some had hoped, Emmanuel Wanyonyi showed he is the man of the moment. Following the pacemaker through 400 in 49.21, he built an unassailable margin, with Olympic rival Marco Arop far back in the pack.
In the final stages, the only real challenger was American Josh Hoey, who was 4th at halfway but charged hard through the last lap and looked like he had a chance to catch Wanyonyi on the final stretch. The Kenyan held on, however, taking the win in a world-leading 1:41.44.
Said Wanyonyi, “I came to run a season’s best and a meeting record. I came prepared. I gave my best today, so I am happy with the result.”
Hoey held on to cross in 1:42.01, becoming the No. 2 American ever, finishing ahead of the fast close of Djamel Sedjati (1:42.20) and Peter Bol’s Australian record 1:42.55.
“I tried to stick to Wanyonyi as much as I could,” said Hoey. “I died about 20–30m from the line, so I just kind of tried to keep rolling and finish the race from there.”
A powerful quartet of Americans filled the middle lanes in the 110 hurdles and nearly pulled off a sweep. Trey Cunningham got out best and kept his composure as Cordell Tinch challenged for the lead at hurdle 5. He held his form while Tinch ran into trouble. Cunningham led at the final two barriers before clocking his 13.09. Tinch was 2nd in 13.14. Ja’Kobe Tharp squeaked out 3rd ahead of Japan’s Rachid Muratake and Dylan Beard, all timed in 13.17. Said Cunningham, “I didn’t stay disciplined after hurdle 3; I started hitting them a little bit and got sideways on hurdle 5, but then came back pretty strong after the seventh hurdle to finish the race.”
In the steeple, the final men’s race of the night, Soufiane El Bakkali had the pacing lights set to help him to a World Record. He covered the first kilometer in 2:37.4 but left to his own devices after the pacers dropped, he slipped to a 2:40.5 clip for the second K. By then, his lead was so big it seemed safe, even at the bell, as WR hopes proved to be unrealistic. However, Japan’s Ryuji Miura left the pack behind and launched an inspired kick. He caught El Bakkali before the final barrier and seemed on the brink of delivering a rare loss to the 2-time Olympic champion.
El Bakkali, sufficiently shocked by Miura’s move, found another gear and won the sprint to the line, 8:03.18–8:03.43. Miura, who covered the last 400 in 58.9 to El Bakkali’s 64.9, cut more than 6 seconds off the Japanese record. Kenya’s Edmund Serem ran 3rd in 8:04.00. Top American Matthew Wilkinson ran an 8:10.23 PR in 8th, ahead of James Corrigan (11th, 8:14.76) and Kenneth Rooks (15th, 8:28.23).
Yomif Kejelcha broke away from the rest of the 5000 field after passing 3000 in 7:39.4 and ran alone after that to win in 12:49.46. France’s Jimmy Gressier closed well for 2nd in 12:53.36. Hoping to be named to the Ethiopian 10K team for Tokyo, he said, “This also might be my last 5000m as I might move to road racing after World Championships.”
Mondo Duplantis overcame the challenge of Greece’s Emmanouíl Karalís in the vault but failed to get a World Record. At 19-5 (5.92), Karalís was tied for the lead, both he and Duplantis having cleared on their first tries. Australian Kurtis Marschall cleared on his second, while American Sam Kendricks took two misses and passed to 19-8¼ (6.00). Both Marshall and Kendricks went out at the next bar, while Karalís and Duplantis passed.
At 19-10¼ (6.05), Karalís missed his first attempt. Duplantis cleared the meet record, and the Greek passed to 20-0 (6.10). The World Record holder passed and watched as Karalís missed twice and went out. Then he focused on trying to go higher than ever, but at 20-7½ (6.29) he only managed to kick the bar off the supports three times.
In the high jump, Sang-hyeok Woo of South Korea tied the world leader at 7-8 (2.34) to beat Czech Jan Štefela’s 7-7¼ (2.32). American JuVaughn Harrison topped out at 7-5¼ (2.27) and settled for 3rd.
Jamaica’s Jordan Scott produced the best triple jumping of his life, taking the lead from Algeria’s Yasser Triki in round 5 with a 57-2¾ (17.44) and extending it to a PR 57-5¾ (17.52) in the final round. Texas A&M alum Triki hit 56-6½ (17.23) on his final leap, with Andy Díaz Hernández also getting his best then, a 56-4¾ (17.19).
“I don’t know what to say. I surprised myself today,” said the winner.
MONACO DL MEN’S RESULTS
200(-0.8): 1. Noah Lyles (US) 19.88; 2. Letsile Tebogo (Bot) 19.97; 3. Makanakaishe Charamba (Zim) 19.99; 4. Alexander Ogando (DR) 20.01; 5. Xavi Mo-Ajok (Neth) 20.34; 6. Jereem Richards (Tri) 20.34; 7. Timothé Mumenthaler (Swi) 20.40.
Non-DL 200(-1.9): 1. Gout Gout (Aus) 20.10; 2. Collen Kebinatshipi (Bot) 20.28.
800: 1. Emmanuel Wanyonyi (Ken) 1:41.44 (x, 10 W);
2. Josh Hoey (US) 1:42.01 PR (11, x W; 2, 2 A);
3. Djamel Sedjati (Alg) 1:42.20; 4. Peter Bol (Aus) 1:42.55 NR; 5. Marco Arop (Can) 1:42.73; 6. Slimane Moula (Alg) 1:42.86; 7. Bryce Hoppel (US) 1:43.51; 8. Tshepiso Masalela (Bot) 1:43.82; 9. Mohamed Attaoui (Spa) 1:43.99; 10. Gabriel Tual (Fra) 1:44.17;… rabbit—Patryk Sieradzki (Pol) (49.21).
St: 1. Soufiane El Bakkali (Mor) 8:03.18 (5:17.59); 2. Ryuji Miura (Jpn) 8:03.43 NR; 3. Edmund Serem (Ken) 8:04.00 PR; 4. Salaheddine Ben Yazide (Mor) 8:06.44 PR; 5. Getnet Wale (Eth) 8:07.57; 6. Samuel Firewu (Eth) 8:08.03; 7. Karl Bebendorf (Ger) 8:08.21 PR; 8. Mohamed Amine Jihnaoui (Tun) 8:08.27;
9. Matthew Wilkinson (US) 8:10.23 PR (AL) (8, x A);
10. Daniel Arce (Spa) 8:12.08; 11. James Corrigan (US) 8:14.76;… 15. Kenneth Rooks (US) 8:28.23.
5000: 1. Yomif Kejelcha (Eth) 12:49.46; 2. Jimmy Gressier (Fra) 12:53.36; 3. Birhanu Balew (Bhr) 12:53.51; 4. Mohamed Abdilaahi (Ger) 12:53.63 NR; 5. Etienne Daguinos (Fra) 12:55.76 PR; 6. Dominic Lokinyomo Lobalu (Swi) 12:56.42; 7. Hagos Gebrhiwet (Eth) 12:58.21; 8. Telahun Haile (Eth) 12:59.59.
110H(-0.9): 1. Trey Cunningham (US) 13.09; 2. Cordell Tinch (US) 13.14; 3. Ja’kobe Tharp (US) 13.17; 4. Rachid Muratake (Jpn) 13.17; 5. Dylan Beard (US) 13.17; 6. Just Kwaou-Mathey (Fra) 13.32; 7. Jason Joseph (Swi) 17.32;… dq—Wilhem Belocian (Fra).
Field Events
HJ: 1. Sang-hyeok Woo (SK) 7-8 (2.34) (7-½, 7-2¼, 7-3¾, 7-5¼ [2], 7-6½, 7-8, 7-8¾ [x], 7-9¼ [xx]) (2.15, 2.19, 2.23, 2.27 [2], 2.30, 2.34, 2.36 [x], 2.37 [xx]); 2. Jan Štefela (CzR) 7-7¼ (2.32); 3. JuVaughn Harrison (US) 7-5¼ (2.27); 4. Yonathan Kapitolnik (Isr) 7-5¼; 5. Raymond Richards (Jam) 7-3¾ (2.23); 6. Hamish Kerr (NZ) 7-3¾; 7. Romaine Beckford (Jam) 7-3¾; 8. Shelby McEwen (US) 7-2¼ (2.19).
PV: 1. Mondo Duplantis (Swe) 19-10¼ (6.05) (18-5¼, 19-5, 19-10¼, 20-7½ [xxx]) (5.62, 5.92, 6.05, 6.29 [xxx]); 2. Emmanouíl Karalís (Gre) 19-5 (5.92); 3. Kurtis Marschall (Aus) 19-5; 4. tie, Sam Kendricks (US) & Renaud Lavillenie (Fra) 19-1 (5.82); 6. Menno Vloon (Neth) 18-9¼ (5.72); 7. EJ Obiena (Phi) 18-9¼; 8. Ben Broeders (Bel) 18-5¼ (5.62); 9. Thibaut Collet (Fra) 18-5¼; 10. KC Lightfoot (US) 17-11¼ (5.47).
TJ: 1. Jordan Scott (Jam) 57-5¾ (17.52) PR (out WL) (55-1, 56-1¼, 55-2, f, 57-2¾, 57-5¾) (16.79, 17.10, 16.81, f, 17.44, 17.52);
2. Yasser Triki (Alg) 56-6½ (17.23); 3. Andy Díaz Hernández (Ita) 56-4¾; 4. Hugues Fabrice Zango (Bur) 56-1 (17.09); 5. Thomas Gogois (Fra) 54-11½ (16.75); 6. Endiorass Kingley (Aut) 54-6 (16.61); 7. Almir dos Santos (Bra) 53-11 (16.43); 8. Max Heß (Ger) 53-8½ (16.37).
