Noah Lyles and Fred Kerley will race over 200 meters on June 24 at the New York City Grand Prix. The thrilling matchup will be the first time this season that the two World Champions go head to head. Although the 200 meters is the Lyles’ primary event, he will certainly have his hands full with the reigning 100 meter World Champion, Fred Kerley.

Two Hot Streaks

Both athletes are coming off of spectacular 2022 seasons. Lyles and Kerley ended those seasons as World Champions in their respective primary events. Neither athlete has taken their foot off the gas since.

Lyles is coming in as the reigning World 200-meter Champion. He did so in spectacular fashion, running an American Record of 19.31 to secure the win. He focused on the 60 meters during this year’s indoor season, where he ran a personal best of 6.51. This strong indoor season translated to a good start to the outdoor season, where Lyles has remained undefeated over 200 meters with a strong seasons best of 19.67.

Fred Kerley arrives to the 2023 season as the reigning 100-meter World Champion. Even though Kerley was known as a 400m specialist early on in his professional days, his 100m gold seemed to confirm that the 100 meters is his primary event now. He has continued to prove this by remaining undefeated throughout the season thus far. He does have a pair of wins over 200m, one of which was over the 2022 World Silver Medalist, Kenny Bednarek, in 19.92.

Two Improving Race Strategies

Both Lyles and Kerley are performing at an extremely high level. But, each of them have made major jumps over the past couple years to get to this level. It seems they still have more ways to continue to progress.

Noah Lyles saw a huge jump last season when he improved his 200m PB from 19.50 to 19.31. The biggest difference was the way in which he came out of the blocks and ran the turn. It seemed as though his start and turn running had caught up with his ability to employ explosive closing speed. With a shiny new PB of 6.51 in the 60 meters this indoor season, it seems as though his start is continuing to improve and is pointing to another improvement over 200 meters.

Fred Kerley has a similar way in which he races the 200 meters. He is typically more cautious on the turn and then hammers home by using his raw power to eat up the field on the final straight. His top end speed seems to have only gotten better from watching his early races this year. It will be interesting to see if he can run a strong enough turn to keep up with Lyles’ improved start.

The battle down the home stretch between these two athletes will be fascinating. Both seem to have some of the best top end speed in the world. No lead is safe when either of these two are in the race, let alone both of them.

A Growing Rivalry

Although this is the first head to head matchup between these two this season, it will likely not be their last.

Kerley alluded to winning ‘double gold’ on Twitter. It likely means that he will pursue also winning a World Title in his secondary event, the 200 meters.

It makes this race in New York City that much more interesting, as it could be a preview of two of the major contenders for that World 200m title in Budapest this August.

Lyles has maintained a death grip on the 200 meters over the past two seasons. He has been undefeated in the event since the Tokyo Olympics, where he came away with the Bronze Medal. He maintained his streak even while competing against Erriyon Knighton, the young star with a 19.49 personal best, last season. Lyles has even tweeted referring to the 200m as his “wife” throughout his dominant streak.

However, Kerley could be due for a major breakout over 200 meters.

The Rising Challenge

The idea that Kerley could be due to make a big breakout this year in the 200m makes the competition between him and Lyles that much more interesting.

Kerley has become one of the most versatile sprinters in the world, having personal bests of 9.76 in the 100m, and 43.64 seconds in the 400m. Perhaps what is most impressive about his range is his ability to compete over each distance. Kerley is the only athlete in history with a World Medal in both the 100m and 400m.

With Kerley having both the speed to be a World Champion in the 100m and the strength to medal in the 400m, the 200m seems to be a good fit for him. Kerley could be due to put these two skillsets he has together, and have an incredible 200m performance.

Kerley has not quite been able to have the same success in the 200 meters that he has had in the 100m and 400m. He does not have a World Medal in the event yet, meaning he will likely be going full force for that medal this year. It makes the idea of this breakout over 200m even more exciting. This could mean yet another contender in the already loaded 200m field in both the United States Championships and the World Championships.

It will certainly be a test in New York for both of these athletes. Will Noah Lyles continue his dominance over 200 meters? Could Fred Kerley bring his 200m up to the World Championship level of his 100m? These questions could be answered in one of the most thrilling sprint matchups of the year on June 24, at the New York City Grand Prix.

Stay tuned for further professional Track & Field content, including meet previews, race analysis, and season projections. 

Featured images courtesy of Marta Gorcyznska

Check out The Game Haus for more sports and esports articles written by our other great TGH like Kyle!

“From Our Haus to Yours”

• SEO Powered Content & PR Distribution. Get Amplified Today.
• EVM Finance. Unified Interface for Decentralized Finance. Access Here.
• Quantum Media Group. IR/PR Amplified. Access Here.
• PlatoAiStream. Web3 Data Intelligence. Knowledge Amplified. Access Here.
• Source: https://thegamehaus.com/sports/noah-lyles-and-fred-kerley-set-to-clash-over-200-meters/2023/06/17/