With athletes spread all over the world at their own home arenas and the main event held in Zurich, Switzerland, Inspiration Games was a start up again for many of the world’s best athletes.
Among them was the 200-meter reigning world champion, Noah Lyles. The American ran in strong headwinds (-3.7) on his own training course at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. Therefore, it was all the more startling when the amazing time 18.90 appeared on the screen when Lyles broke the finish line.
Noah Lyles has a personal record of 19.50, the fourth best in history, but shocked everyone when the time of the Inspiration Games appeared on the screen.
Photo: CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP
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The letters “WR” came up, indicating that Usain Bolt’s legendary world record of 19.19 was history.
Wrong trajectory – or a miracle
For a few seconds and minutes, the athletics world was in shock over the incredible time. Including Lyles himself, who had 19.50 as a personal record from before and obviously had trouble believing he had persevered with six tenths in very poor conditions.
NRK’s Jann Post never thought that Lyles’s time was right. In case he had broken Usain Bolt’s world record by 29 hundredths.
– Either you have to measure up the track again, or it has been a miracle, said NRK commentator Jann Post when Lyles’ time came up.
Eventually it turned out that Lyles had started on a 400-meter dash instead of the 200-meter dash. That meant he reached the finish after running 185 yards, instead of 200.
Mail is critical of organizers who failed to get Lyles to run the correct number of yards.
– Unusually clumsy
– It is unusually clumsy not to be able to measure 200 meters in a grand convention that is being sent around the world. It should not happen, says Jann Post after the conference.
When Lyles finally learned that he had not run 200 meters, he posted the following message on Twitter:
– You can’t play with my feelings that way. Run in the wrong path, writes Lyles.
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