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Noah Lyles sends Olympic Games message after PB in Diamond League, Matthew Hudson-Smith, Keely Hodgkinson star
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Published 20/07/2024 at 17:51 GMT+1
Men's 100 metres world champion Noah Lyles produced a personal best on Saturday at the Diamond League event in London, a week ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics Games. There was also an impressive victory for Great Britain's Matthew Hudson-Smith in the men's 400m event, while Keely Hodgkinson led a 1-2-3 finish for the British in the women's 800m race.
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Noah Lyles set a men's 100m PB at the Diamond League in London on Saturday and said he was "going to win" at the Olympics, while Great Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith and Keely Hodgkinson also starred.
With the 2024 Paris Olympic Games opening ceremony just six days away, the home athletes put in some impressive performances, as did other hopefuls using the event for some last-minute preparation.
Twenty-nine-year-old Hudson-Smith, a world silver medal winner, produced a time of 43.74 seconds to set a new European men’s 400m record, beating his previous best, to win the event. The time is the fastest run so far this year.
Speaking after his win, he said: "It was an amazing crowd, it's always good to perform in front of them and it's a great send off. It's a long time coming and I'm actually healthy. Now I'm putting in a lot of work. The proof is in the pudding. I'm excited.
"One of the biggest changes is that I'm doing a lot of gym, which I actually hate. It's hard but it's showing benefits. I'm showing I'm more of an overall athlete rather than just keeping fit.
"I'm an overall better athlete and better person. I'm taking more control of myself. I'm on salads now."
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Hodgkinson, 22, already holds an Olympic silver medal and will be looking to go one better in Paris. She set a national women’s 800m record with a time of 1:54.61, the fastest of the year. Fellow Brits Jemma Reekie and Georgia Bell finished second and third respectively, with their own personal bests.
Hodgkinson said of her performance: "I felt really good today, I just wanted to go for it and see what was there.
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Keely Hodgkinson
Image credit: Getty Images
"It was a little bit of bravery and fearlessness with a great atmosphere like this, I didn't want to waste the opportunity.”
In the men’s 100m, current world champion Lyles triumphed, with the American recording a personal best of 9.81 seconds, with South Africa’s Akani Simbine and Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo in second and third, respectively. Fourth spot went to Britain’s Louie Hinchcliffe, who is set to make his Olympic bow this summer.
Lyles made it clear that he was travelling to France full of confidence. He explained: "That was fun. I could have had a better start. The transitions were great and coming away with a PB. I wanted a faster time but I had the wind. After building my confidence and getting through 2021, this has been what I prayed for and what I wanted.
"I'm going to win, it's what I always do. I'm getting faster every week."
British sprinters Zharnel Hughes (sixth) and Jeremiah Azu (seventh) clocked in at 10.00 and 10.08 respectively.
In the women’s 200m, Dina Asher-Smith was in third place with a time of 22.07, with fellow Briton Daryll Neita fourth with 22.20.
The win went to world silver medallist Gabrielle Thomas of the US, whose time of 21.82 was four-hundredths of a second quicker than St Lucian Julien Alfred.
Asher-Smith and Neita were also part of the winning team in the women's 4x100m relay, equalling the national record of 41.55, with the second-string British team coming third with 42.46.
discovery+ is the streaming home of the Olympic Games, and the only place you can watch every moment of Paris 2024 this summer.
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