 Christian Coleman of the United States ran a wind-assisted 9.78sec to win the 100 meters at the USATF Bermuda Grand Prix - but only just got to the line before the super-fast finishing Noah Lyles arrived to clock 9.80.
With a following wind of 4.4 meters per second (mps) - well in excess of the 2.0mps admissible for record purposes – Lyles finished well inside his legal best of 9.86 at this World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting at the Flora Duffy Stadium in Devonshire.
Lyles, who retained his world 200m title in a US record of 19.31sec last summer in Oregon, is sharpening up over shorter distances as he plans his defense of the title in Budapest this summer.
The dramatic way in which he gained on the smaller man who won the world 100m in 2019 before being banned for a doping-related offence promised further riches when he takes to his signature distance.
Lyles was visibly cast down only to win Olympic 200m bronze in Tokyo, but today the Canadian who won gold, Andre De Grasse, looked some distance away from his sharpest form as he finished seventh in 10.16.
In the closing event, the men’s 200m, De Grasse finished second in 20.28 behind Elijah Morrow of the US, who got ahead before feeling a 4.7mps wind at his back as he turned for home and won in 20.11.
The opening event of the day was a hugely competitive women’s long jump in which a final round effort of 7.11 meters took Tara Davis-Woodhall past her American rival Quanesha Burks, who had jumped 7.04 in the third round.
For the winner it was a particularly significant result given that it was announced last month she had stripped of her national indoor title from February and given a month's suspension, which she completed last month, after testing positive for cannabis at the meeting.
Similarly powerful following winds in last year’s meeting persuaded Grant Holloway, the world 110m Hurdles champion, to pull out of his race because of the possible risk of injury by being blown into a barrier.
The wind was 4.0mps for the Men’s 110m hurdles this time round, but it did not dissuade Jamal Britt of the US from taking part and winning in 12.99 from compatriot Eric Edwards, who clocked 13.07.
The Men’s Triple Jump was won by Will Claye of the United States in 17.45m.
America's Abby Steiner won the Women’s 200m in 22.06, well clear of Anthonique Strachan of the Bahamas, who clocked 22.34.
The wind level was exactly the maximum permissible for the Women’s 100m race, won in 10.91 by Tamara Davis of the US, with Jamaica’s Shashalee Forbes clocking a personal best of 10.98 in second place, and Germany’s European champion Gina Luckenkemper finishing fourth in 11.03.
In the Women’s 100m Hurdles, Puerto Rico’s Tokyo 2020 champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, with a 4.0mps wind at her back, won in 12.17 from Jamaica’s 2015 world champion Danielle Williams, who recorded 12.38.
Steven Gardiner of the Bahamas, the Olympic 400m champion, won in 44.52 from compatriot Alonzo Russell, who clocked 45.24.
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