EUGENE – Noah Lyles believes he is rounding into form at the right time ahead of September’s World Athletics Championships in Tokyo after a scintillating world-leading 200m victory at the US Track & Field Championships on Aug 3.

Lyles, the reigning Olympic 100m champion, will attempt to defend both his 100m and 200m world crowns in Japan, aiming to emulate Usain Bolt with a fourth consecutive world 200m gold.

The 28-year-old from Florida warmed up for that challenge in Eugene on Aug 3 by clocking a world-leading 19.63secs in a testy battle with Kenny Bednarek at Hayward Field.

Lyles angered Bednarek by turning his head to stare down his rival just before he took the tape. Bednarek shoved Lyles in the back over that apparent taunt.

Lyles refused to comment about the flashpoint after his win.

“Under coach’s orders, no comment,” Lyles said before brushing off further attempts to talk about the spat.

Bednarek, though, was more expansive.

“That’s unsportsmanlike shit, and I don’t deal with that,” Bednarek said. “I don’t deal with any of that stuff. It’s not good character.”

The feud sets up the possibility of an intriguing rivalry over the remaining months of the season between the two US sprinters.

While both men are planning to run in Europe ahead of the World Championships, they will almost certainly duel again in Tokyo.

Lyles, who has endured a patchy season disrupted by niggling ankle and groin injuries, believes that his best is yet to come and that his Aug 3 win augurs well for his world championship hopes.

“If they ain’t gonna beat me now, they ain’t gonna beat me ever,” Lyles said.

“I’m seeing everything I need to see in practice, so I’m truly just waiting for it to transfer over. Me and my coach says when you see something happen in practice, it takes about three weeks to see it on the track in a race.

“And it’s still not even close to what we’ve seen in practice – we’re still far behind.

“I’m trying to get as many races in as possible. You know, as you can all see, I’m underdeveloped in terms of races. So I just need to keep getting sharp. So I need to keep putting myself in more and more competitions.”

Bednarek, meanwhile, plans to be lying in wait for Lyles in Tokyo.

The 26-year-old from Tulsa has three silver medals in the 200m at major championships but is so far waiting for his breakthrough gold.

“Next time we line up, I’m gonna win,” Bednarek said. “That’s all that matters to me.”

Bednarek noted too that while Lyles had run only three races in Eugene – scratching from the 100m after his opening heat – he had raced all five rounds of the 100m and 200m.

“I’ve said it for years, Noah’s gonna be Noah. If he wants to stare me down, that’s fine,” Bednarek said. “But I ran five rounds, and he was fresh. We can line up again when we’re both fresh and let’s see what happens – because I’m very confident I can beat him.”

In the women’s sprints meanwhile, Jefferson-Wooden signalled she could well be the woman to beat in Tokyo after completing her 100m-200m double, winning the 200m in 21.84secs, with Anavia Battle second in 22.12secs.

Olympic 200m champion Gabby Thomas just squeaked into the Tokyo squad, finishing third in a photo finish with Brittany Brown.

“As long as I’m executing my race the way I know I can, then the times are going to continue to come,” Jefferson-Wooden said. “And 21.84 I’ll take.”

While Jefferson-Wooden is looking forward to Tokyo, Sha’Carri Richardson will only compete in the 100m at the World Championships.

Richardson, arrested for domestic violence last week following a clash with boyfriend Christian Coleman, failed to qualify for the 200m final.

Coleman also failed to qualify in the 200m, but will go to Tokyo as part of the US relay pool.

Coleman, the 2019 100m world champion, said of the incident: “For me personally, I feel like it was a sucky situation all round. I don’t feel like she should have been arrested. I mean people have discussions and emotions and stuff like that...

“She’s a human being and a great person. To me she’s the best female athlete in the world. I see it every day.”

Over in Birmingham, Zharnel Hughes stormed to victory in the men’s 200 metres at the UK Athletics Championships on Aug 3 in Birmingham to complete the sprint double and secure a spot in that event in Tokyo.

Hughes, who won the 100m on Aug 2, clocked 19.90 seconds to break the competition record, becoming the first runner to duck under the 20-second barrier at a British championship.

Meanwhile, Dina Asher-Smith held off newly-crowned 100m champion Amy Hunt to win a women’s 200m that was determined by a photo finish, with both clocking 22.14, also a championship record. AFP, REUTERS