Noah Lyles made a brutal remark about one of his 100m rivals after cruising through his heat at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
Lyles, the reigning 100m champion, had a stunning first outing at the National Stadium, advancing to the semi-finals of the men's 100m to win his heat with a fast time of 9.95 seconds despite only starting his season in July because of a tendon injury.
Ackeem Blake of Jamaica came second with a time of 10.07, while compatriot Kishane Thompson - who narrowly lost out to Lyles in a photo finish in Paris, won his heat with a time of 9.95.
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However, Oblique Seville, the man who Usain Bolt has tipped to break his incredible 100m record time, did not get off to a strong start.
Seville got the better of Lyles in Diamond League meets in London and Lausanne this season - having first got bested him in the 2024 Racers Grand Prix in his hometown of Kingston.
However, the 24-year-old had a poor start in Tokyo - beginning slow in heat one and only just taking the third automatic qualifying spot with a time 9.93 seconds.
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Afterwards, the ever outspoken Lyles aimed a dig at Seville and claimed he saw signs that he was about to struggle.
"Yeah, I knew that was gonna happen," Lyles told Peacock.
"That man was panicking in the back. Yeah. But hey, he’s a gamer, so hopefully he’ll get it back, and then we’ll have a great final. Alright, we’ll see you back at it soon.”
According to Lewis Johnson, an American sports commentator, Seville spoke in the mixed zone and revealed he had been suffering from some "personal issues" that he would not elaborate on.
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As per Track and Field Writer Noel Francis, Seville issued a brief statement regarding his performance - commenting: "I’ve had a number of races that I’ve come from behind. As an athlete, you will not always get the perfect start; you will have moments when you have to recover from a bad one, and I’ve learned my lesson both ways, so I know what to do.”
Both the semi-finals and final will take place on Sunday, with the gold medal winner in line to pocket £52,000.
In addition, any world record win will result in a whopping £74,000 bonus.
Topics: Noah Lyles, Olympics, Athletics
Josh Lawless