Noah Lyles steps up the mind games with World Cup rival Zharnel Hughes ahead of this month’s showdown in Budapest
Noah Lyles steps up the mind games with World Cup rival Zharnel Hughes ahead of this month’s 100m showdown in Budapest
- Zharnel Hughes set the world’s fastest 100m time earlier this year
- Noah Lyles defeated the British sprinter at the London Stadium in July
- The two will meet again at the World Cup in Budapest
American sprint star Noah Lyles has wondered if Zharnel Hughes can handle the pressure to be one of the medal favorites at this month’s World Championships.
Hughes, 28, has never won an individual world medal, but this year has the fastest 100m time in the world at 9.83 seconds and the fourth best time at 200m at 19.73 seconds.
Lyles beat the British hopeful at the London Stadium last month and will face him over both distances in Budapest, where he defends his world title in the 200 metres.
And the 26-year-old has already started the mind games – he wonders if Hughes will be able to convert his form at one-day events into a major championship this season.
Asked by Mail Sport how seriously he views Hughes as a serious rival, Lyles replied: ‘We’ll see how he performs. One-day encounters are one-day encounters. We’ll see what happens when he shows up for the championships. Then it’s a whole different beast.
Noah Lyles (pictured) will be hoping for another win against Zharnel Hughes after beating him in London last month
Hughes (left) set the world’s fastest 100m time earlier this year
“He’s had quite a few championships and Olympics, but now he’s hot. Now he has the target on his back.
‘Walking with a target on your back is a completely different feeling and pressure than having to keep it on your shoulder. That’s up to him.’
No Briton has won the world title in the 100 meters since Linford Christie in 1993, while in 2003 Darren Campbell was the last home sprinter to take the bronze medal. The last Briton to win a world medal in the 200m was John Regis in 1993. Hughes set Christie and Regis’ respective national records in the 100 and 200m this summer.
Meanwhile, Lyles is aiming for his first major medal in the 100m in Budapest and his third consecutive gold in the 200m. He also believes he can challenge Usain Bolt’s 200m world record of 19.19 seconds, with a world lead of 19.47 seconds in London.
“There’s what I will accept and then there’s what my greatest expectation is,” Lyles said ahead of the championships, which start next Saturday. “What I accept is to take a medal in the 100m, any color, and win the 200m. My big ambition is to win three golds and set a world record in the 200 meters.
“World records really depend on the day, but me and my coach have often looked at each other and said, ‘Yeah, this is getting really scary.’ After London it was like, ‘Oh hurry up, this is really going to happen’.’