With the ‘will he, won’t he’ surrounding Lyles’ participation at the US nationals, new names are coming to the fore in the race for sprint titles in Eugene, Oregon. Who will be crowned kings of the sprints at this year’s US championships and earn their spots at this year’s Worlds? Olympics.com explains why it’s all wide open.
Noah Lyles and Kenny Bednarek
It’s not often we enter a US track & field championships with this many more questions than answers.
However, that’s the case when it comes to the men’s sprint races this year, with a field as wide open as any in recent memory.
Much of that comes down to the reigning 100m and 200m world champion Noah Lyles.
With the Olympic 100m gold medallist possessing a wildcard to the Worlds in both events, the motivation for him to compete in Oregon is not as easy to gauge as that of his competitors, who will be fighting tooth and nail to secure their spot on the USA team for Tokyo.
Lyles has hinted at concentrating solely on the 200m at nationals, leaving the door wide open for a new national champion to be crowned in the 100m.
But if you think he’ll just turn up for the ride in the 200m, it’s time to think again.
In a recent press conference before the London Diamond League, the six-time world champion put his rivals on notice. If you want that 200m national title, you’re going to have to wrench it from his hands.
“I’m still the national champion in that event, and I don’t believe in giving up titles,” he said. “I earned that title, and I need to race it and somebody needs to take it from me, if they want it.”
Noah Lyles on USA national championships: “I get the job done when the chips are down”
Lyles doesn’t just win races; he finds a way to control them even when everything seems against him.
In the Paris 2024 Olympic 100m final, he proved that in ways nobody — not even the television cameras, not even himself — expected.
Trailing Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson until the last metre of the race, he somehow willed himself to victory, dipping to gold in the tightest of photo finishes.
“I get the job done when the chips are down,” he said in London, before adding, “I’d say I’m the king of tight races… the tighter the race, the better I win.”
However, this year’s build-up to USAs is markedly different to Lyles’ preparations for the 2024 Olympics. An inflamed tendon left him waiting for his outdoor season opener (albeit an impressive 200m Monaco Diamond League victory over a field that included Olympic 200m champion, Letsile Tebogo) until 11 July.
It was hardly ideal preparation with the world championships scheduled to begin just two months later.
But while Lyles struggled for fitness, others have stepped up to fill the gap he left. Not least of these is Kenny Bednarek.
Noah Lyles – Paris 2024 – Olympic Games Rewind
The closest Olympic men’s 100m sprint final in history needed all his main character energy. Watch to see how Lyles timed his dip to perfection and won gold for Team USA.
Why Kenny Bednarek can become the USA’s sprint king at the 2025 USA Track & Field Championships
While doubts linger over whether Lyles will compete in both the 100m and 200m at the USA championships, there is no such uncertainty surrounding Bednarek, who has been enjoying arguably the best season of his career to date.
“They expect me to double,” he said in a recent interview with Forbes. “That’s pretty much what I’ve done every single year. But this year, I feel like in particular, it’s going to be even more special.
“I’ve been winning a lot of races, and that’s been building my confidence. So going into trials, I’m just expecting big things.”
Bednarek already possesses an enviable resume, with two Olympic 200m silvers to his name from Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024.
This year, he seems to have turned his running up a notch.
Just take his performances in the Grand Slam Track league as an example. Over the course of three meets, the Oklahoma native declared to the world his status as a double threat, winning all six races — the only athlete in the entire league to do so — over 100m and 200m.
While he has always been known for his prowess over the half-lap distance, there’s a fire burning inside of him to prove himself as a great in the 100m as well.
“I have a personal goal of running 9.7,” said Bednarek, who has a current 100m best of 9.86, to Forbes. “And I want to run faster than 19.5 (in the 200m) this year.
“I want to come out of Tokyo with three gold medals, being part of the relays as well. And yeah, I just want to stay undefeated.”
Bold aspirations, yes. But for an athlete riding high on confidence, this may just be the year that Bednarek climbs up to the top step of the podium — both at these upcoming trials and the following Worlds.
Who else can soar to the front of the wide-open sprint fields at the 2025 USA track & field trials?
While Lyles and Bednarek may be clearer favourites in the men’s 200m, the blue ribband 100m distance will pit some of the world’s biggest sprint names against each other — and they have history and titles to show for it.
Trayvon Bromell is currently the fastest US sprinter in 2025, with his blistering 9.84 seconds set at this year’s Rome Diamond League.
A veteran of the sprint circuit, the 30-year-old has two world championship bronze medals to his name, with the latest from Oregon 2022 and his first won all the way back in 2015.
When it comes to longevity, few in the game can come close to him.
The third-fastest American this year (sat snuggly in behind Bednarek in second) is Brandon Hicklin, who many are picking to make his first world championships team in 2025.
A season’s — and personal — best of 9.93, as well as a fourth-place finish in the 2025 Prefontaine Classic in early July, have seen the 26-year-old’s stock rise impressively this year.
But don’t count out 2019 100m world gold medallist, Christian Coleman. He could find his way on the plane to Japan without springing any significant surprises.
In the men’s 200m, Bednarek and Lyles will once again be expected to duke it out for top spot, but even though they are favourites, that doesn’t tell the whole story of 2025.
Sitting pretty as the world lead this season is 21-year-old T’Mars McCallum, who set a blistering time of 19.73 in early July.
Add to that the likes of Courtney Lindsey and Erriyon Knighton, and we may be headed for one of the tightest 200m finals in recent times.
In sporting terms, it’s a pick’em.
The 2025 USATF Outdoor Championships begin on Thursday 31 July and end on Sunday 3 August.
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