Noah Lyles couldn’t be beaten in the men’s 200m at the Monaco Diamond League 2025 on Friday, 11 July, clocking 19.88 seconds to win his first Diamond League race of the season, along with some all-important bragging rights over Paris 2024 Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo.
The win kept Lyles’ unbeaten streak at Diamond League meets – going back to 2019 – alive, while providing the American superstar with an extra dose of confidence ahead of the 2025 U.S. Track and Field Championships.
“Any time that you can run against fast people and get the win, I call that a job well done,” he told Olympics.com. “Any time you get to be out there and put on a performance, I think those are the ones that count the most.”
The entertaining clash between two of the world’s best sprinters lived up to its pre-race billing, with the reigning Olympic 100m champion (Lyles) and 200m champion (Tebogo) going stride-for-stride for much of the race.
A slightly sluggish start almost cost Lyles the victory, but he overcame that early form lapse to reach a top speed that the others couldn’t match.
He crossed the line first, followed by Tebogo in a time of 19.97 seconds.
“It’s been a long time coming. People wanted to see it,” said the Botswanan Tebogo of the duel between himself and Lyles.
“We were also excited to see how it was going to go,” he added. “I’m really happy with how he came back. I’m hoping for the best, and more races together.”
Tebogo himself came under pressure from Zimbabwe’s Makanakaishe Charamba – a finalist at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 – who finished third in a time of 19.99 seconds.
While it took a while for the Zimbabwean sprinter to reach top speed, he cemented his status as a real World Championships’ medal threat with a strong finish in front of the lively crowd gathered for an unforgettable evening of athletics at Stade Louis II.
The race itself, if nothing else, provided a slick teaser for this season’s World Athletics Championships due up from 13-21 September in Tokyo, Japan.