Lyles wins his fourth 200-meter world title. Jefferson-Wooden completes a sprint sweep

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TOKYO (AP) — There were no staredowns, shoves or heated words after this win for Noah Lyles.

Just four fingers thrust into the air when he crossed the finish line — one for each time he's won the world title in his favorite race, the 200 meters.

Lyles pulled ahead of his American rival Kenny Bednarek heading into the straightaway Friday night, then held him off down the stretch to win in 19.52 seconds and equal Usain Bolt's worlds title haul in the half-lap sprint.

Instead of exchanging glares and shoves with Bednarek — the way it happened last month at U.S. championships — Lyles looked relatively calm, thrusting his fingers into the sky after his .06-second victory and shouting “That's four, baby!” into the TV camera.

“This," Lyles said, “is a very big win,.”

Minutes after he won, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden completed the first women’s 100-200 double at worlds since Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in 2013, winning in 21.68 seconds. It was a .46-second margin over surprise silver medalist Amy Hunt of Britain. It also made Jefferson-Wooden the first American to complete the double at worlds.

“I didn't come into this knowing the history,” she said. “Now, I'm putting two-and-two together and I'm kinda freaking out.”

In the men's race, Bryan Levell of Jamaica finished third and Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo was fourth.

This was among the most-anticipated showdowns of the worlds, one that's been in the making for the last seven weeks -- or four years -- depending how you look at it.

In 2021, Lyles was suffering after months in a COVID lockdown and came to Tokyo admittedly depressed. Lining up in a near-empty stadium, he ran his semifinal poorly, landed Lane 2 for the final, and ended up with a bronze medal that he stored away, using it as fuel for what was to come.

More recently, there was his victory at nationals, punctuated by a stare-down of Bednarek, then Bednarek’s shoving Lyles as they crossed the finish line.

“It was something where, guys are guys, you put two alpha-males in a room, you're going to get alpha-male stuff,” said Lyles' coach, Lance Brauman.

Lyles also dealt with injuries all season, which played a role in his third-place finish in the 100 earlier in the week — a race he came into as defending champion.

In the 200, Lyles didn’t start perfectly but never panicked. He was in second place as he hit the turn, but that didn't bother him.

“If I'm anywhere near the front of the pack coming off the turn, in my head, I'm like ‘This is easier than what I used to have to do,’” Lyles said, mentioning his struggles when he first got serious about the 200. “It's never an idea of ‘I’m back here there's so much work to do,' it's ‘OK, I’ve been here before, let's do what we always do.'"

He did, catching Bednarek as they hit the stretch, opening a two-step lead on him with about 50 meters left, then holding on for the win.

By doing it, Lyles wrote the latest chapter in a title run that began in 2019 in Doha, Qatar, but has hardly been a straight line.

He said nothing can make up for not winning the 200s at either of the Olympics that have spanned his career. Last year, he ran the 200 with COVID and finished third, behind Bednarek and Tebogo.

“You have to get it right that day every four years,” Lyles said. “I don't think any amount of world championships in the 200 will ever replace the empty feeling" from not winning the Olympics.

Bednarek, likely to be Lyles' relay partner in the 4x100 final Sunday if the Americans make it, had previously said all the tension between the country's top two male sprinters had been smoothed over. His guarantee of beating Lyles, made in the heat of the moment in Oregon — well, that didn't work out.

“Every single year, I'm learning to improve on different things, understand things a little more,” Bednarek said.

Lyles is a student of this game, too — and with four titles, he's now cemented on the list of its all-time greats.

“The reference we were using is ‘jump out of a plane,’” Lyles said of chats with his therapist to get him ready for this return trip to Tokyo. “You either do it or don't. And if you don't jump out of the plane you're not going to win the race.”

Watch out, Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Heptathlete Anna Hall is in pursuit of your world-championship record. Maybe even your world record.

Joyner-Kersee set the world championships record of 7,128 points in 1987. Her world-record mark stands at 7,291, which she set in winning gold at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Hall finished Day 1 of the event with 4,154 points to take a 248-point lead over Kate O’Connor of Ireland, with reigning Olympic champion Nafissatou Thiam lurking (3,818 points). There are three events remaining -- the long jump, javelin and 800 meters.

Hall joined the 7,000-point club earlier this season with a score of 7,032 points, which is tied for the second-best mark of all time. In that competition, Hall had 4,161 points after the Day 1 events.

There’s something about this stadium that brings out the best in triple jumper Pedro Pichardo of Portugal. He needed it, too, on his final jump.

Pichardo, the Olympic gold medalist from the Tokyo Games in 2021, saw Andrea Dallavalle of Italy take over the lead in the final round with a personal-best jump of 17.64 meters. The 32-year-old Pichardo responded with a leap of 17.91 meters to secure gold.

He knew his attempt was a winner, too, and strutted out of the sand pit. He looked into the camera and said, “Who’s the best, baby?”

On this night, there was no question: Pichardo. He also won the event at the 2022 world championships in Eugene, Oregon.

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AP Sports Writer Pat Graham contributed.

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