Noah Lyles didn’t have to race at the Toyota USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships, but he did and came out with a tense win over Kenny Bednarek.
Lyles, the Olympic 100m gold medalist, earned a record-tying fifth U.S. men’s 200m title, clocking 19.63 seconds, the world’s best time in 2025, in Eugene, Oregon.
Lyles tied the record number of U.S. men’s 200m titles shared by Michael Johnson (1990-92, ’95-96) and Ralph Metcalfe (1932-36). His last defeat in a U.S. 200m final was at the 2016 Olympic Trials when he was 18 years old.
Athletes competing at nationals were vying for spots at September’s World Championships with the top three in most events making the team. But Lyles already had a bye onto the team for worlds in Tokyo in both the 100m and 200m as the defending world champion in each event.
Finals results from the 2025 Toyota USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
Lyles will be joined on the 100m and 200m team at worlds by Bednarek, who won the 100m at nationals on Friday in Lyles’ absence.
In the 200m final, Lyles overtook Bednarek in the final strides by four hundredths and looked over at Bednarek as he crossed the finish line. Bednarek then shoved Lyles in the back before they came to a stop. The two men then had a short chat and shook hands.
“I’m not going to say it out here, but we’ve got something to do and talk about,” Bednarek told Lewis Johnson on NBC Sports when asked about the look and shove.
Lyles had no comment on it, per his coach’s order.
Bednarek is 2-13 all-time against Lyles in the 200m, according to Tilastopaja.info, though the two were the last two Olympic finals where Bednarek took silver and Lyles bronze.
Bednarek said he came into nationals rusty. He hadn’t competed since June 1 — withdrawing from the July 5 Prefontaine Classic due to adductor tightness — and posted July 19 that he was back to full-speed training.
He also noted that he ran three rounds of the 100m on Thursday and Friday, while Lyles ran just one round on Thursday.
“He’s fresh,” Bednarek said. “Last time we lined it up, I beat him. That’s all I can say. Next time we line it up, I’m going to win.”
Lyles overtook another American, T’Mars McCallum, for the world’s best time of 2025 in just his third 200m of the year.
“It was a pretty difficult championship,” said Lyles, who dealt with an ankle injury from late April to late May, then slowly built up in training. “I’ve been tired. It’s been rough, coming out here when you’re not 100%.”
Also Sunday, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden became the first woman to sweep the 100m and 200m national titles since 2003 (Torri Edwards).
Jefferson-Wooden ran a personal best 21.84 in Sunday’s 200m after a PB in Friday’s 100m (10.65). She was followed in the 200m by Anavia Battle (22.13) and Olympic 200m gold medalist Gabby Thomas (22.20).
“The 100m is my preferred event, and it’s also my favorite, but also I’ve spent so much time in my career shying away from how good I can be in the 200m,” said Jefferson-Wooden, the world’s fastest woman in 2025 in the 100m and second-fastest in the 200m. “Now I’m just starting to embrace that because I know that the more my times get faster in the 200m, the more it’s going to help my 100m.”
Thomas made the world team by one thousandth of a second over Olympic bronze medalist Brittany Brown. She then said she missed a week of training in July due to an on-and-off Achilles issue.
Donavan Brazier, a 2019 World champion, completed a comeback from nearly three years away from competition to win the 800m in a personal best 1:42.19.
“I always pictured this happening, but I didn’t know if it’d come true,” Brazier told Johnson on NBC Sports.
Brazier was followed by 16-year-old Cooper Lutkenhaus, who ran 1:42.27, a U18 world record by 1.1 seconds.
The rising Texas high school junior is set to become the youngest American to compete at a World Track and Field Championships, according to Olympic sports historian Bill Mallon of the OlyMADMen. Mary Cain (2013) and Allyson Felix (2003) previously raced at age 17.
Brazier, Lutkenhaus, Hoppel race exhilarating 800m
In a phenomenal men’s 800m in Eugene, Donavan Brazier won with a personal-best of 1:42.16, while 16-year-old high schooler Cooper Lutkenhaus finished runner up ahead of Bryce Hoppel in third, who had a season’s best.
Olympic 1500m gold medalist Cole Hocker won the 5000m, one day after placing third in the 1500m, to hit his goal of making the world team in both events.
Hocker is joined by Olympic 5000m bronze medalist Grant Fisher and American record holder Nico Young. Hocker would be the first American to race both the 1500m and 5000m at worlds since Bernard Lagat in 2009.
In the 400m hurdles, 2016 Olympic gold medalist Dalilah Muhammad earned her fifth national title — and first since breaking the world record in 2019 — in what she has said will be her last season before retiring.
Muhammad will lead the U.S. women’s 400m hurdles team at worlds, along with Olympic silver medalist Anna Cockrell.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, the two-time Olympic gold medalist and current world record holder in the event, chose to race the flat 400m instead this summer.
Olympic gold medalist Rai Benjamin won a sixth U.S. title in the men’s 400m hurdles, breaking a record he shared with Edwin Moses, among others.
Two-time Olympic gold medalist Valarie Allman threw 71.45 meters for a record seventh U.S. discus title and a 27th consecutive victory overall dating to 2023.
Allman, who would have won Sunday’s title with any of her six throws, will now bid to win a world title for the first time after previous silver and bronze medals.
Josh Awotunde won his first U.S. title in the shot put with a personal best 22.47-meter throw in the final round.
Ryan Crouser, the three-time Olympic gold medalist, did not compete as he has dealt with an elbow injury and has a bye onto the team as defending world champion.
Joe Kovacs, the three-time Olympic silver medalist behind Crouser, was fourth, missing the team by one spot. Kovacs won a medal at each of the last eight global championships (Olympics/worlds) and last missed an outdoor team in 2013.
Shelby Houlihan prevailed in the women’s 5000m, returning this season from a four-year ban after testing positive for the anabolic steroid nandrolone in December 2020.
Roisin Willis made her first senior world team by winning the 800m, adding to her 2022 World Junior and 2025 NCAA titles in the event. Tokyo Olympic champion Athing Mu-Nikolayev previously missed the nine-woman final by one spot.
Noah Lyles is proud of his Paris Olympic experience while noting something missing going toward LA 2028.
