ESPN News Services
Sep 19, 2025, 09:42 AM ET
There were no staredowns, shoves or heated words after this win for Noah Lyles.
Just four fingers thrust into the air when he crossed the finish line -- one for each time he has won the world title in his favorite race, the 200 meters.
Lyles pulled ahead of his American rival Kenny Bednarek heading into the straightaway Friday night then held him off down the stretch to win in 19.52 seconds and equal Usain Bolt's world title haul in the half-lap sprint.
Instead of exchanging glares and shoves with Bednarek -- the way it happened last month at the U.S. championships -- Lyles looked relatively calm, thrusting his fingers into the sky after his .06-second victory and shouting "That's four, baby!" into the TV camera.
"This," Lyles said, "is a very big win."
Minutes after he won, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden completed the first women's 100-200 double at worlds since Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in 2013, winning in 21.68 seconds. It was a .46-second margin over surprise silver medalist Amy Hunt of Britain. It also made Jefferson-Wooden the first American to complete the double at worlds.
"I didn't come into this knowing the history," she said. "Now, I'm putting two and two together, and I'm kind of freaking out."
Jefferson-Wooden's time was the best in the world in two years and nearly a second better than her personal best entering 2025 (22.46).
"I came out here, and I did exactly what I set out to do," she said. "Not a lot of women double anymore, so for me to come here, do the double and win gold medals just says a lot. I'm now looking forward to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. I definitely put a target on my back."
In the men's race, Bryan Levell of Jamaica finished third and Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo was fourth.
This was among the most-anticipated showdowns of the worlds, one that's been in the making for the past seven weeks -- or four years, depending how you look at it.
In 2021, Lyles was suffering after months in a COVID lockdown and came to Tokyo admittedly depressed. Lining up in a near-empty stadium, he ran his semifinal poorly, landed Lane 2 for the final and ended up with a bronze medal that he stored away, using it as fuel for what was to come.
More recently, there was his victory at nationals, punctuated by a staredown of Bednarek, who shoved Lyles as they crossed the finish line.
"It was something where, guys are guys, you put two alpha males in a room, you're going to get alpha-male stuff," said Lyles' coach, Lance Brauman.
Lyles also dealt with injuries all season, which played a role in his third-place finish in the 100 earlier in the week -- a race he came into as defending champion.
On Friday, Lyles didn't start perfectly but never panicked. He was in second place as he hit the turn, but that didn't bother him.
"If I'm anywhere near the front of the pack coming off the turn, in my head, I'm like, 'This is easier than what I used to have to do,'" Lyles said, mentioning his struggles when he first got serious about the 200. "It's never an idea of 'I'm back here, there's so much work to do.' It's 'OK, I've been here before, let's do what we always do.'"
He did, catching Bednarek as they hit the stretch, opening a two-step lead on him with about 50 meters left and holding on for the win.
By doing it, Lyles wrote the latest chapter in a title run that began in 2019 in Doha, Qatar, but has hardly been a straight line.
He said nothing can make up for not winning the 200 at either of the Olympics that have spanned his career. Last year, he ran the 200 with COVID-19 and finished third, behind Bednarek and Tebogo.
"You have to get it right that day every four years," Lyles said. "I don't think any amount of world championships in the 200 will ever replace the empty feeling" from not winning the Olympics.
Bednarek, likely to be Lyles' relay partner in the 4x100 final Sunday if the Americans make it, had said all the tension between the country's top two male sprinters had been smoothed over. His guarantee of beating Lyles, made in the heat of the moment in Oregon -- well, that didn't work out.
"Every single year, I'm learning to improve on different things, understand things a little more," Bednarek said.
Lyles is a student of this game too, and with four titles, he is now cemented on the list of its all-time greats.
"The reference we were using is 'jump out of a plane,'" Lyles said of chats with his therapist to get him ready for this return trip to Tokyo. "You either do it or don't. And if you don't jump out of the plane, you're not going to win the race."
In the women's 200, Hunt (22.14) burst into tears immediately after collecting Great Britain's second podium finish of these championships. Shericka Jackson (22.18) took bronze for Jamaica.
The race required a restart after Anthonique Strachan of the Bahamas was disqualified for a false start.
Rai Benjamin captured the 400-meter hurdles on the best day of the championships for the United States, which has 10 golds and 16 medals overall with two days left in the meet.
The Associated Press and PA contributed to this report.
