American sprinter Noah Lyles ran the fastest 150 meters in history on Tuesday, clocking 14.67 seconds at the Golden Spike meet in the eastern Czech city of Ostrava. The time beat the previous world best of 14.72, set by Kishane Thompson of Jamaica in Florida just two months ago in April.
Lyles, 28, edged Sinesipho Dambile of South Africa, who finished second in 14.78 seconds. Australian teenager Gout Gout came in third with a time of 14.96, according to Al Jazeera.
After the race, Lyles was direct about his intentions. "Was there ever any doubt? Was there ever any doubt? We came for a show," he told Czech TV.
The 150 meters is a rarely contested distance, which made the record notable in a different way from standard sprint events. Lyles entered the meet with momentum already building. Earlier this month, he won the Wanda Diamond League meet in Rome with a 9.88 in the 100 meters, described as his fastest since winning gold at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Lyles has had strong performances across both indoor and outdoor seasons this year and was named to the Time100 list of the most influential people in the world.
Also at Ostrava, Dutch star Femke Broeders-Bol made her outdoor debut in the 800 meters after switching from 400 meter hurdles, a discipline in which she had won two world gold medals. She finished second in 1 minute 57.13 seconds, behind Swiss runner Audrey Werro, who won in 1 minute 54.45 seconds. Werro's time ranked among the eighth best ever run at the distance, though it still fell more than a second behind the world record of 1:53.28 set in 1983 by Jarmila Kratochvilova of then-Czechoslovakia, who was present at the meet and watched the race from the stands.
South Africa's Bayanda Walaza won the men's 100 meters, equalling his personal best of 9.94 seconds.
