Noah Lyles and. Kenny Bednarek put on a show during the men’s 200 meters at the U.S. track and field championships and things really heated up afterward.
The pair got into a tense exchange after the race, which Lyles won with a blazing 19.63 time.
Lyles looked back at Bednarek as he was passing him with 10 meters to go and continued to stare him down as he crossed the finish line.
That led to Bednarek giving Lyles a two-handed shove and the two trading words before ultimately shaking hands.
“Noah is gonna be Noah. If he wants to stare me down, that’s fine,” Bednarek told reporters following the race. “But I ran five rounds and he’s fresh, he can line up again when we’re both fresh and see what happens. I’m very confident I can beat him. Little personal stuff and we’ll figure it out.”
When asked specifically what Lyles had said to Bednarek, the American wouldn’t go into details.
“What he said doesn’t matter. It’s just what he did. It’s unsportsmanlike s–t and I don’t deal with that,” Bednarek said.
The sprinters also had an awkward exchange before their NBC Sports interview began.
“I tell ya, if you’ve got a problem, I expect a call,” Bednarek said to Lyles as the NBC interview was starting.
“You know what, you’re right. You’re right. Let´s talk after this,” Lyles responded.
Lyles did not want to comment after the event when asked by reporters why he decided to taunt Bednarek.
“On coach’s orders, no comment,” he said.
The well-known American sprinter had been trailing Bednarek as they hit the turn before he burst in front of him in the closing meters before the finish line.
“We came off the turn and I saw how far Kenny was and I was like, ‘As long as I can keep him in my pocket then I can catch him,’” Lyles told reporters. “We got to the straight away, we passed the 60 meters left mark and I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’m coming for him.’ He ran out of energy and he ran out of momentum and mine was just starting to hit it.”
Sunday was Lyles’ fifth national championship in the 200 and Lyles had been the defending world champ in the 100 and 200 and is the Olympic champion in the 100.
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