Noah Lyles will be going for his second gold medal of the Paris Olympics on Thursday, but he will need to improve upon his semifinal time if he hopes to make that happen.
Three days after his Olympic 100-meter sprint for the ages, Lyles ran in the semifinals for the 200-meter race on Wednesday, finishing second in his heat with a time of 20.08.
While it wasn't a win, it was still more than enough for Lyles to move on and give him a shot at earning his second gold medal of the Games. His race time was third-fastest overall among the three semifinal heats.
His .005-second victory in the 100m race was basically as close as it gets, and there is some reason to believe his remaining races may not be as tight. The 200m is said to be his stronger race — on that he has not lost since the Olympic final in Tokyo three years ago, where he finished third.
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Here's what to know about the men's 200m final and how to watch:
Paris 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics
Watch all the action from the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games live on Peacock
When does Noah Lyles race in the men's 200m final?
The men's 200m final is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 8 at 2:30 p.m. ET from the Stade de France in Paris.
He will try to be the first American man to win the men's 200m since Shawn Crawford in 2004. Lyles would be in good company to win both the 100m and 200m at the same Olympics. The last man to do it was Usain Bolt in 2016 in Rio.
How do the men's 200m semifinals work?
There were three semifinal heats for the men's 200m with eight athletes in each. The top two athletes in each semifinal plus the top two athletes not already qualified moved onto the final.
All three Americans who ran in the semifinals advanced to the final. Kenny Bednarek had the fastest time among them, coming in at 20 seconds flat. The third member of Team USA to qualify for the final, Erriyon Knighton, did so with the fifth-fastest time overall, at 20.09 seconds.
The fastest time in the semifinals was set by Letsile Tebogo, of Botswana, with a time of 19.96 seconds. Alexander Ogando, of the Dominican Republic, as well as Zimbabwe's Tapiwanashe Makarawu and Makanakaishe Charamba, were the other qualifiers for the final.
What other events is Noah Lyles competing in at 2024 Paris Olympics?
Lyles already competed in the men's 100m and will be competing in the 4x100m relay as well. Here's what the schedule for that event looks like:
| Date | Time | Race |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday, August 8 | 5:35 a.m. ET/2:35 a.m. PT | Men's 4x100 relay round 1 |
| Friday, August 9 | 1:47 p.m. ET/10:47 a.m. PT | Men's 4x100 relay final |
How to watch Noah Lyles race at the Olympics
All of Noah Lyles' medal races will be broadcast live on Peacock and NBCOlympics.com.
Lyles' races will also be shown either live or on replay in primetime on NBC.
What could slow down Lyles in his quest for Olympic sprint glory?
The 100 was the biggest hurdle for Lyles to overcome. It is not his best race, and it's the one he took up shortly after Tokyo with the goal of becoming more than a mere sprinter, but a larger-than-life personality, both on and off the track.
Lyles also figures to feature prominently in the men's 4x100 relay but that's anything but a gimme.
Riddled with poor work with the baton, a lack of consistent training habits, a doping positive and the constant spectre of trying to beat Bolt, the U.S. has not won, and kept, a single Olympic medal in this event since 2004. It hasn't captured gold since 2000.
He'll have challengers in the 200 meters, but he's hard to beat
The relay is a bigger threat to Lyles' quest to win three gold medals, the way Bolt did in all three of his appearances, than the 200 meters.
Lyles figures to get his biggest challenge in the 200 from Kenny Bednarek, who finished ahead of Lyles in Tokyo and, more recently, pushed him at a fast Olympic trails that Lyles won in 19.53. He also had a faster time in the semis. Tebogo, Knighton and Ogando are also poised to be in the mix.
One interesting wager would be whether Lyles has more of a chance of losing the race or lowering his American record of 19.31. Bolt's world record is 19.19.
