SAINT-DENIS, France — Noah Lyles will race for his second Olympic gold medal despite finishing runner-up Wednesday in the 200-meter semifinal, his first loss at that distance in three years.
Letsile Tebogo of Botswana finished the heat in 19.96 seconds, beating Lyles by .12 and marking the first time the American has lost a 200 of any kind since he finished third at the Tokyo Games.
It opened up a 24-hour period to debate and discuss the meaning of the second-place finish, which still earned Lyles an automatic qualifying spot in Thursday night’s final but could have him running the curve from a less-than-ideal lane.
Last weekend, Lyles notably lost both his opening heat and the semifinal round of the 100, before coming back to eke out a .005-second victory over Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson in the final. That win came about 90 minutes after another Jamaican, Oblique Seville, beat him in the semifinal for that sprint.
Some things to consider:
— Was Tebogo, a worlds bronze medalist with the third-best time of 2024, trying to send a message, and if so, did he burn too much energy trying to make his point? He finished in 19.96 for the only sub-20 run of the night.
— Was Lyles taking it easy, even after conceding he had been a bit unprepared for the challenges he would face in the early rounds after opening the Games with second-place finish in the 100 meters?
— Or might this fuel Lyles, who does not take kindly to being messed with in his favorite race?
Among those waiting for him in the final will be Kenny Bednarek, the American who came within .06 of Lyles earlier this summer at Olympic trials. Also, Erryion Knighton, the 20-year-old American who was long seen as Lyles’ next, big threat but whose only victories over Lyles came in opening rounds of the 2021 Olympic trials.
The defending champion, Andre De Grasse of Canada, finished third in his heat and did not advance.