Thompson Runs 9.87 to Stun Lyles at Silesia Diamond League

Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson laid down a significant marker for next month’s World Athletics Championships by defeating Olympic gold-medallist Noah Lyles in the men’s 100 metres at the Diamond League meeting in Chorzów, Poland. Thompson, silver-medallist in Paris last year, exploded out of the blocks and crossed in 9.87 seconds, setting a meeting record. Lyles, who again struggled at the start, closed fast to clock 9.90 seconds, his best time of the season, while fellow American Kenny Bednarek finished third in 9.96. The result reverses the razor-thin finish at the 2024 Olympics, where Lyles edged Thompson by five-thousandths of a second, and heightens anticipation for the global championships in Tokyo on 13–21 September, where Lyles will defend his crown. In the women’s 100 metres, U.S. sprinter Melissa Jefferson-Wooden reinforced her status as the season’s form athlete, winning comfortably in 10.66 seconds, just 0.01 shy of her world-leading mark. She beat Jamaica’s Tya Clayton, who ran 10.82, and Côte d’Ivoire’s Marie-Josée Ta Lou-Smith, while world champion Sha’Carri Richardson faded to sixth in 11.05.