UPDATE (8:50 AM – 7/11): After posting the Titan Track & Field post, we contacted sources who stated the original post was true but at last minute Merritt decided to do the double after all. This means Noah Lyles will NOT be going to the Olympics unless there’s an injury to one of the top three finishers.
.@lashawnmerritt has processed for #TeamUSA in both the 200m and the 400m. Confirmed with his agent he is competing in both. #TrackTown16
— USATF (@usatf) July 10, 2016
UPDATE (3:05 PM): Noah Lyles is going to the Summer Olympics after all in Rio. After being unsure of whether or not he wanted to do the double race (200 & 400) in Rio (see below), LaShawn Merritt has now declined to run in the men’s 200M after qualifying last night. This means Noah Lyles from T.C. Williams is going to Rio by virtue of Noah finishing 4th last night.
BREAKING NEWS: Noah Lyles is going to RIO!!!!! LaShawn Merritt dropped out of the 200m so Noah is IN!! #TitanPride @TCWTitans @ACPSk12
— TCW XC/Track & Field (@TCWTitanTrack) July 10, 2016
Noah and Josephus Lyles from T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia have been tearing up the track and field circuit on both the local and national level. Their goal in 2016 is to compete in the upcoming 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
Noah Lyles competed last night in the men’s 200m FINAL at the Olympic Trials which are being held over ten days at historic Hayward Field at the University of Oregon in Eugene.
The recently graduated high school senior from Alexandria, Virginia ran 20.26 in the semifinal ahead of Kendal Williams to win his heat to get into the final. Noah ran a 20.04 in the qualifying heat on Wednesday.
In the final last night, while it was going to be tough to beat Justin Gatlin, Ameer Webb, and LaShawn Merritt (who all ran faster times in the semis), Noah Lyles turned in one of the best American and world junior performances ever in the final coming in fourth place.
The 18-year-old from TC Williams High School ran a 20.09 for fourth place, breaking a 31-year-old national High School record.
Lyles will likely not get to compete at the Olympics. After the race and after saying he was unsure if he’d pursue a 400-200 double, 400m champion Merritt said that he’d likely do the 200/400 double at the Olympics.
However, both Noah Lyles and fellow high schooler Michael Norman earned a spot on Team USA competing at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland from July 19-24.
Go Noah!
