Noah Lyles ran 19.52 seconds to win a fourth-straight 200-meter World Athletics Championships title, becoming the first man since Usain Bolt to defend the crown three times.The American, running from Lane 6 on Friday in Tokyo, took down a stacked field that featured five of the eight from the Olympic final last summer.It included Lyles; compatriot Kenny Bednarek, who finished second in 19.58s from Lane 8 for a fourth global silver; breakout Jamaican star Bryan Levell placed third, clocking a 19.64s personal best — that brings Jamaica their first men’s 200m world championship medal of any kind since Bolt won gold in 2015.
NOAH LYLES DOES IT AGAIN! 😱
FOUR 200m world outdoor titles in a row! #WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/wo8jm82hyp
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) September 19, 2025“I didn’t have the start I had in the semifinal, but I knew I was still moving fast,” Lyles said, according to Olympics.com. “I studied my competitors. I knew their momentum was going to show up once we got closer to 150m, but mine was going to build up after I hit that mark.”Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo finished fourth in 19.65s, one hundredth outside the medals.“This is part of the game. You are not always going to win everything,” Tebogo said after the race. “… Noah deserved this title.”Levell was first as they came off the bend, splitting 100m in 10.03s, which had him six hundredths clear of Bednarek and nine hundredths ahead of Lyles. The defending champion retained his crown as he always wins: His unmatchable top-end mechanics kicked in, and Lyles ran everyone down.“Don’t miss the final, it’s going to be magical,” Lyles said Thursday evening after clocking 19.51s, the fastest semifinal performance in history. He ran just one hundredth slower in the final, almost an identical time to what he clocked in Budapest two years ago to win — it is the 11th sub-19.6s half lap of Lyles’ career.It means that the 28-year-old, who had to delay the start of his outdoor season due to groin inflammation, ends the year as the fastest man over 200m, and with American, Diamond League and world titles.Lyles has now won every world championship final since Doha in 2019, replicating the four-peat that Bolt produced between 2009 and 2015.Shortly after Lyles’ win on a busy Day 7 at the world championships, fellow American Melissa Jefferson-Wooden completed a rare double, dusting the field in the women’s 200 to become the first woman since 1991 to win the 100 and 200 at the same worlds.Despite the four straight world titles, dating back to 2019, Lyles has yet to win the top prize in the 200 at the Olympics. He took bronze on the same track at the Japan National Stadium at the 2021 Games before his silver medal last summer. Friday’s win gives him a fresh jolt of confidence as eyes turn toward the run-up to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.“I can’t wait for 2027 to become the only man to win five 200m titles,” he said.(Photo: Hannah Peters / Getty Images)
