Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles makes his European season debut in the 200m at the Diamond League meet in Monaco on Friday, back from a tendon injury with a body he says is "ready to run fast".
The American's much-anticipated return to elite competition comes at a timely moment as athletes continue to fine-tune their form ahead of September's world championships in Tokyo. Lyles will be up against Letsile Tebogo, the Botswanan who won Olympic 200m gold in Paris in a race when a Covid-hit Lyles came away with bronze.
"Everything's been telling me like my body's ready to run fast," Lyles said Thursday after recovering from an injury caused by what he said was a "freak accident", without disclosing more details.
"I've been waiting quite a while. I had an inflamed tendon and it prevented me from actually being able to jog or run. I couldn't put much pressure on it.
"I could walk, but other than walking, I couldn't really do much."
It was Lyles' first proper injury since one he sustained in his first year as a professional in 2017.
Lyles, who will race over 100m in London next week, added: "That was kind of disappointing just watching everybody race. But luckily I have the bye for the world championships and it still sets my season up to be really good."
Last season, the 27-year-old said, had made it tough to get back on the track in training after all the add-ons of becoming an Olympic 100m champion.
"I remember thinking 'Oh, this is too early'. I want to go out, I want to enjoy the fact that I won the medal and go to events and stuff like that.
"I ended up having to take a vacation because I wasn't able to in my off season and go and get away from track in the beginning of April because I was just so burnt out."
India's Chopra wants coach Zelezny's big-stage mindset
India's Olympic javelin gold medallist Neeraj Chopra said on Friday he hoped his coaching switch continues to pay off as he aims to retain his world title.
Chopra joined Czech javelin legend Jan Zelezny's coaching group ahead of the 2025 season and last weekend won the inaugural edition of the Neeraj Chopra Classic in Bengaluru, stretching his streak of top-two finishes to 25 events.
"He always performed in big tournaments and I am trying to pick his mindset of a big-stage performer and that will help me," Chopra told reporters on Friday at an event organised by one of his sponsors near New Delhi.
"The main target this year is the Tokyo World Championships and we are working towards it."
The World Championships are in September.
The 27-year-old Chopra won an Olympic gold in Tokyo in 2021 and silver in Paris last year. He took the last world title in Budapest in 2023. Zelezny won four Olympic medals, three of them gold, and three world titles in a career that lasted more than 20 years.
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