By Trevor Stynes.
@Diamond_League
Kishane Thompson laid down a marker ahead of next month’s world championships when the Jamaican came out on top in the highly-anticipated 100 metres against Olympic champion Noah Lyles at the Silesia Diamond League meeting on Saturday.
The men’s sprint brought together American Lyles and Thompson for the first time since their unforgettable Olympic final last year in Paris, where Lyles beat his rival by five thousandths of a second.
Add Kenny Bednarek into the mix, who recently clashed with Lyles, and this was a race that nobody wanted to miss. The two Americans had a heated moment at the U.S. Championships earlier this month, when Lyles stared down Bednarek coming to the line and received a shove in return at the finish.
Thompson blasted out of the blocks and never looked like being beaten, while Lyles, with his typically slow start, came strong at the end but the Jamaican won in 9.87 seconds, with Lyles clocking 9.90, his season’s best, and Bednarek finishing third.
“It felt alright. My job is to get the job done,” said Thompson.
The Jamaican, who missed the cut for the 2023 world championships in Budapest, will be one of the favourites for this year’s edition in Tokyo on September 13-21.