Sawt Falasteen - Lyles wins US 100m title in world-leading 9.79sec

Lyles, trailing at the start, surged over the final 30 meters for a convincing victory over veteran Ronnie Baker, who edged Kenny Bednarek for second.

Both were credited with a time of 9.88, Bednarek taking third with former world champion Christian Coleman relegated to fourth in 9.93.

"In my head, the distance was already made up," Lyles said of the early gap he erased. "Coach said 'put my hand in their pocket, don't let 'em get away.'

"I saw where Christian was and I said: 'Oh yeah, my hand is all the way in there,' and I just pulled him back and I did what I do," added Lyles, who matched the personal best he set in winning Olympic gold in Paris in 2024.

Sha'Carri Richardson, the 2023 world champion and 2024 Olympic silver medallist, clocked 10.77sec (wind 0.9m/sec) to win her third national 100m title.

The 26-year-old Texan, whose difficult 2025 campaign saw her finish off the podium in her 100m world championship defense, pulled away relentlessly from training partner Kayla White, who finished second in 10.90.

Tamari Davis was third in 11.00.

"It just feels phenomenal to be back in a better place, just healthy mentally, physically and emotionally," Richardson said. "Everything me and coach have been working on, it's starting to show consistently."

Lyles and Richardson had both set a tone with speedy wind-aided semi-final performances.

Lyles clocked 9.76sec in a 2.1m/sec wind barely over the allowable limit of 2.0.

Richardson topped the women's semi-final times with a 10.78 that looked impressively easy even in a following wind of 2.6m/sec.

P.AbuBaker--SF-PST