Mondo Duplantis interrupted Noah Lyles’ press conference to cheekily tease him about his recent run-in with Kenny Bednarek.
The three athletes are all in action on Saturday, as the Diamond League returns to Silesia, Poland, with plenty of rivalries set to resume.
Lyles stared down Bednarek as he crossed the 200m finish line in a tense race earlier this month
But perhaps none will be more heated than Lyles and Bednarek’s, after an explosive showdown between the pair at the US track championships.
In a hotly-contested 200m final in Eugene, Oregon, it was Olympic champion Lyles who claimed a dramatic victory.
He passed Bednarek and crossed the line in 19.63 seconds, for a .04-second victory.
Lyles stared his rival down as he beat him to first place, and Bednarek responded with a two-handed shove in the back.
This caused the record-breaking 100m Olympic champion to turn around and backpedal as the situation nearly boiled over.
He reached his arms out and bounced up and down before more heated words were exchanged post-race.
The fiery incident sparked a war of words afterwords, with Bednarek branding Lyles’ actions ‘unsportsmanlike’.
And with the duo now set to clash again in Silesia this weekend, fellow Olympic champion Duplantis made sure to bring up the reunion on everyone’s mind.
At the end of a pre-tournament multi-athlete press conference, the Swede smiled before asking: “Can I ask Noah a question?
“I want to ask Noah about that stare down and that push? Because that s*** was kind of crazy game.”
After being beaten on the track, Bednarek responded with a two-handed shove
The pair will race again at this weekend’s Diamond League meet
Duplantis made sure to playfully remind Lyles of the heated interaction
Duplantis made sure to playfully remind Lyles of the heated interaction
Lyles then gave the same answer he gave straight after his showdown with Bednarek, when he was instructed by his coach to remain silent.
The 28-year-old laughed and repeated: “As coach said, ‘no comment’
Duplantis didn’t press: “Fair enough. I enjoyed it though.”
Lyles was then given a chance to get back at Duplantis, as he was asked if he had any questions for the pole vault superstar.
Instead, the US star had a warning, saying: “Don’t break the world record so I can get the ring,” in reference to the ring awarded by meet organisers for the best performance.
The US-born Swedish athlete laughed, before he quipped back: “No comment.”
Lyles laughed as he remained tight-lipped on his antics at the US track championships
There is every chance Duplantis will write his name into the history books in Silesia, having made an incredible habit of it.
He set his 13th world record of his career on Tuesday in Hungary, adding another centimetre to his all-time best, as he cleared 6.29m.
This was the 25-year-old’s third world record of 2025, a year after he won his second Olympic gold medal in Paris by soaring to 6.26m.
But the main event this weekend will surely be the 100m, as Bednarek looks to get his own back on Lyles.
And this isn’t the only rivalry which is set to be renewed in the event, with Kishane Thompson also taking part, in a rematch of his and Lyles’ Paris 2024 duel.
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