Tara Davis-Woodhall, Grant Holloway, Akani Simbine Achieve World Leads

By David Woods for DyeStat

Photo courtesy Atlanta City Games

Here is the story behind the story of Noah Lyles’ 150-meter sprint tying an American record:

Clearly, sprinters require flat-out speed. Yet it’s not so simple beyond a distance of 60 meters. It takes top-end speed, and it takes speed endurance.

Lyles underscored he has all of the above.

He won the 150 meters Saturday in 14.41 seconds at the adidas Atlanta City Games on a straightaway surface assembled in Piedmont Park. Wind was negligible (+0.3). Lyles took a bow afterward.

In Olympic events, outdoor world leads were turned in by long jumper Tara Davis-Woodhall, hurdler Grant Holloway and sprinter Akani Simbine.

Lyles narrowly led Great Britain’s Zharnell Hughes through 100 meters, 9.99 to 10.06. Last year’s triple World champion covered the closing 50 meters in 4.42 to Hughes’ 4.61, accounting for most of the margin.

Tyson Gay set an American record of 14.41 at Manchester, England, on May 16, 2010. The year before, also at Manchester, Usain Bolt set a world record of 14.35.

Records at such a distance are not ratified by World Athletics, but they supply ready comparisons. And Lyles was significantly faster than the 14.56 he ran at Atlanta a year ago.

“I wanted the world record,” he said on the livestream. “But I’ll settle for tying the American.”

In the long jump, Davis-Woodhall’s distance of 23 feet, 6.25 inches (7.17m) bettered by one centimeter her world lead from two weeks ago at Fayetteville, Ark. She jumped 23-6.75 (7.18m) at Albuquerque, N.M., during an indoor season culminating in World Championships gold.

Quanesha Burks was second at 22-7.25 (6.89m), also second in the world behind Davis-Woodhall.

Holloway won the 110-meter hurdles in a world-leading 13.07, despite a headwind of 0.7mps.

And Simbine, a 30-year-old South African, took the 100 meters in a world-leading 9.90 into a headwind of 0.4 mps. Another African, Ferdinand Omanyala of Kenya, was second in 10.00.

Simbine wrestled the world lead from Florida high schooler Christian Miller, who set an American under-20 record of 9.93 on April 20.

In the women’s 150 meters, Candace Hill won in 16.30, same as Nigeria’s Favour Ofili. (Times were 16.293 to 16.299.)

Fastest 150s on record, both en route to 200s around one turn, are credited to Shericka Jackson (16.09 at Brussels in September 2023) and Florence Griffith Joyner (16.10 at the Seoul Olympics in September 1988).

Elsewhere for the women, Roberts Wesleyan collegian Brynn King won the pole vault at 14-10.75 (4.54m) over World indoor champion Molly Caudery of Great Britain (14-4.75/4.39m); Aleia Hobbs won the 100 meters over Tamara Clark, 10.88 to 10.98; Keni Harrison came from behind to beat world record-holder Tobi Amusan of Nigeria in the 100 hurdles, 12.67 to 12.73 (-2.3).

Heptathlete Anna Hall, coming off knee surgery and trying to reclaim form before the U.S. Olympic Trials, ran the 100 hurdles in 13.55 and long jumped 20-3.50 (6.18m). Her respective PBs are 12.75 and 21-5.50 (6.54m).

Contact David Woods at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.