Olympic gold medallist Noah Lyles and Sha’Carri Richardson eased into the 100m semi-finals at the US athletics championships on Thursday.
Lyles, who captured 100m gold at the Paris Olympics in 2024, won his heat in 9.97sec to book his semi-final berth with the second-quickest time of the day behind the 9.96 posted by former world champion Christian Coleman.
Richardson, the 2023 world champion and 2024 Olympic silver medallist, topped the women’s heats in 10.90sec.
Richardson will be a heavy favorite for the title on Friday, with Melissa Jefferson-Wooden — a treble gold medallist at last year’s world championships — opting to race the 200m only this week.
Lyles called his championships opener a good warm-up “just to get the engine firing.”
But he predicted a “fast final” on Friday on the Icahn Stadium track, where Usain Bolt set a 100m world record of 9.72sec in 2008 — a mark the Jamaican eventually lowered to the current 9.58.
Coleman, the 2019 world champion and the 60m indoor world record-holder, was also pleased with his “really smooth” start to the meeting.
“I was able to break 10 (seconds) without really hitting the gas like I know I can, so I feel good about it,” said Coleman, who topped the times despite racing into a slight headwind of 0.3m/sec.
Kenny Bednarek, a two-time Olympic silver medallist at 200m, won his 100m heat to advance.
Among a handful of finals on the opening day of competition, Woody Kincaid surged late to win the men’s 10,000m in 30min 13.66sec ahead of 2024 Olympic bronze medallist Grant Fisher, who clocked 30:14.46.
Sydney Vaught won the women’s 10,000m in 33:36.98.
Isaac Grimes claimed his second straight men’s long jump title, clearing 8.18m on his final attempt. Malcolm Clemons was second with a leap of 8.07m.
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