Defending men’s 200m champion Noah Lyles blasted a new world lead of 19.51 en route to the final of the World Athletics Championships on Thursday (18 September).
Seventeen-year-old Australian sensation Gout Gout did not make it out of heat 2 in 20.36.
Lyles’s time in Tokyo on this night was 0.01 faster than his mark from two years ago when he won the title.
The Olympic 100m champion said he wanted to make it clear to the competition that he will not be beaten.
“I surprised myself.,” Lyles said. “I kind of backed up a little bit as we got to the last 20m. I am going to put on a whole race in the final.
“The goal today was to do the bend well and finish first. When I got up after the first 50m, I thought I heard Zharnel (Hughes) running along and I said to myself, ‘You ain’t catching me.’
“The message today was that they can’t beat me. I knew I was running fast when I exited the curve but I didn’t expect 19.51. I was expecting 19.60 or 19.70.
“Don’t miss the final, it’s going to be magical.”
Joining Lyles in Friday’s final are Bryan Levell (19.78), Kenny Bednarek (19.88), Letsile Tebogo (19.95), Hughes (19.95), Sinesipho Dambile (19.97) and Tapiwanashe Makarawu (19.98).
Gout was all smiles despite coming up short, knowing his whole career lies ahead of him.
“It’s really good,” he said. “I mean, semi-finalist and go out there and compete against the big guys and I just couldn’t be prouder of myself.
“Just take away everything for sure – take away how to handle the pressure, how to handle the pool rooms, just everything about it.
“All the things you wouldn’t really expect about the world championship is what I’m going to take away this short. So just to put that on my head and just continue forward the path.
“The biggest eye-opener is knowing that I can compete at the young age I am against the best men in the world.
“That’s been definitely the biggest eye-opener for me and just knowing that I can actually go out there and run my heart and still place against these grand men.”