EUGENE, Ore. — Noah Lyles landed the day’s biggest blow on the track, passing Kenny Bednarek for the win, then looking his way to talk trash.
Bednarek’s answer was a two-handed shove in the back after they crossed the finish line, some more heated words and a challenge for a rematch that can’t come soon enough.
The U.S. track championships turned physical Sunday, with Lyles and Bednarek getting involved in a shoving and shouting match as they crossed the finish line of a hotly contested 200-meter final at Hayward Field.
“Like I’ve said before, Noah’s going to be Noah,” Bednarek said. “If he wants to stare me down, that’s fine.”
Lyles passed Bednarek and crossed in 19.63 seconds for a .04-second victory that sets up a rematch at the world championships Sept. 19 in Tokyo.
The best action in Round 1 came after the finish line. There was jawing, the shove and Lyles turning around, backpedaling, reaching his arms out and bouncing up and down like a boxer before lobbing a few more choice words at Bednarek.
Their argument bled into the start of what is normally a celebratory NBC winner’s interview.
“I tell ya, if you’ve got a problem, I expect a call,” Bednarek said as the network’s Lewis Johnson moved the mic between the runners.
Lyles replied: “You know what, you’re right. You’re right. Let’s talk after this.”
Though they shook hands during that tense postrace, Bednarek was fired up well after the sprinters left the track.
“The summary is, don’t do that to me,” he said. “I don’t do any of that stuff. It’s not good character right there. That’s pretty much it. At the end of the day, he won the race. I’ve got to give him props. He was the better man today.”
The win wasn’t a surprise for Lyles, the three-time defending world champion who will have to get past Bednarek to make it four in Tokyo. Bednarek was asked what Lyles said as he turned around and gloated after securing his fifth national title at his favorite distance.
“What he said didn’t matter, it’s just what he did,” Bednarek said. “Unsportsmanlike [expletive], and I don’t deal with that. It’s a respect factor. He’s fresh. Last time we lined it up, I beat him, that’s all I can say. Next time we line up, I’m going to win. That’s all that matters.”
Asked to expand on his role in the tiff, Lyles was less forthcoming: “On coach’s orders, no comment.”
Until now, track media and the runners have tried to generate rivalries between Lyles and Erriyon Knighton (fizzled), or Lyles and Letsile Tebogo (beat him in the Olympics last year) or, of course, between Lyles and NFL receiver Tyreek Hill (supposed grudge match never took place).
Turns out, they probably should have looked at the lane next to Lyles. Bednarek has won silver and beaten Lyles the past two times they’ve lined up in the 200 at the Olympics, even though Lyles wasn’t 100% in either. In Tokyo, he dealt with his mental health, then in Paris, he had COVID-19.
Bednarek referenced some long-simmering issues between the two.
“Just some personal stuff we’ve got to handle,” he said.
But when asked for something about this burgeoning rivalry, Lyles demurred, instead focusing on his difficult year after an injury in April kept him out of spikes until June.
“If they ain’t going to beat me now, they ain’t going to beat me ever,” Lyles said.
Bednarek isn’t so sure of that.
The 200 final was Bednarek’s fifth race of the week, counting the three heats of the 100 meters, where he won the final Friday. Lyles, who has an automatic spot at worlds in that event as the defending champion, ran only one heat of the 100.
“We’ll go fresh and we’ll see what happens,” Bednarek said. “Because I’m very confident I can beat him. That’s all I can say.”
Elsewhere around the track (and field):
Melissa Jefferson-Wooden won the 200 in a personal-best time of 21.84 seconds, while Olympic champion Gabby Thomas had to wait a few anxious moments before learning she earned a spot on the world team thanks to her third-place finish.
It was a winning weekend for Jefferson-Wooden, who also captured the 100 on Friday. She will be joined in the 100 at worlds by Sha’Carri Richardson, who has an automatic spot as the defending champion. Richardson didn’t advance to the final in the 200.
The women’s 400 hurdles was wide open with Olympic champion and world-record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone focusing on the open 400 (she won the event Saturday). Dalilah Muhammad, 35, took control and cruised to the win.
One of the afternoon’s most exciting finishes was in the men’s 800 meters, where 2019 world champion Donavan Brazier used a strong kick to hold off 16-year-old Cooper Lutkenhaus and Bryce Hoppel.
In the 5,000 meters, Shelby Houlihan held off Elise Cranny by less than a second to win the title. Houlihan returned to track this year after serving a four-year doping ban. The former U.S. record holder in the 5,000 tested positive after eating a burrito she said was tainted with a performance-enhancing drug.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.