EUGENE: Noah Lyles advanced to the 100m final at the US Olympic trials in a wind-aided 9.80s in Eugene, Oregon on Sunday, inching closer to booking a spot at the Paris Games.
The world champion crossed the line two-hundredths of a second ahead of Olympic 200m silver medallist Kenny Bednarek to produce the fastest time of the semifinal heats.
Both will compete in the final later on Sunday along with 2019 world champion Christian Coleman, who missed the Tokyo Games after receiving a two-year ban for breaching whereabouts rules. Coleman won his heat in 9.86s.
Tokyo 100m silver medallist Fred Kerley also advanced as he finished second in his heat in a wind-aided 9.89s, a hundredth of a second behind Courtney Lindsey.