"More important than you would imagine"- Noah Lyles on the importance of lane draw to break the 200m world record

American sprinter Noah Lyles has claimed that in order getting a good lane draw is very important to break the 200m World record of Usain Bolt.

While Bolt's 100m World Record is still a far dream for any of the current sprinters, the 200m one is facing huge threats. The Jamaican has himself admitted that the latter would be the first to be broken, and if there's someone who could the favorite to do it, it's Noah Lyles.

Lyles is only 12th hundredths of a second behind Bolt's 19.19s mark after having clocked 19.31s at the 2022 World Championships. He isn't just after the world record as the 26-year-old has expressed to touch the 19.10s mark.

"If we add that to what I’ve already done in the 200, I’m running 19.10,” Noah Lyles told Let's Run.

Bolt also admitted later that Lyles could break the 200m World Record. He will need to have luck on his side when the 26-year-old goes for the lane draw, either at the Paris Olympics 2024 or the World Championships.

Posting a picture of Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake, and Noah Lyles, Track Spice asked on X (formerly Twitter) about the importance of getting a good lane number.

To which Lyles replied with beaming confidence:

"More important than you would imagine"

While the lane number doesn't matter in the 100m sprints, it does play a huge role in 200, and 400m sprints. The middlemost lane is considered to be the best, or fastest while the outside lanes have higher oval areas and thus are slower compared to other races.

Who else can challenge the 19.19 mark of Usain Bolt in addition to Noah Lyles?

13th IAAF World Athletics Championships Daegu 2011 - Day Eight

Noah Lyles is the top contender to break Usain Bolt's World record in the 200 meters. Having come so close previously, and with stellar 60m performances on the back, Lyles' road to the record looks shorter.

However, he will have to beat Botswana sprinter Letsile Tebogo first. The 20-year-old has been racking up impressive speeds in the last couple of years. Tebogo clocked a world-leading time of 19.94s in his outdoor season opener recently and with a personal best of 19.50s in the discipline, he is also aiming a shot at the 19.19s mark.

"We have a better chance in the 200, I want to believe. Usain Bolt himself said in an interview that the 200-meter record might be the easier of the two, and I concur”, he told Forbes Betting.