The men’s 200m is heating up nicely, with Noah Lyles and Letsile Tebogo cruising through their heats at the 2025 World Athletics Championships on Wednesday, 17 September. Lyles and Tebogo both triumphed in their respective races, with reigning world champion Lyles clocking 19.99 seconds in heat 4, and Botswana’s Olympic champion Tebogo finishing in 20.18 seconds in the final heat of the evening.
“The body is feeling good and definitely waking up,” Lyles said after his heat. “The goal here was to blast through the first 100m, and I achieved that.” However, sterner tests lie ahead for both, who will be joined in the semi-finals by the likes of the USA’s Kenny Bednarek, Britain’s Zharnel Hughes, and Australia’s 17-year-old sprint sensation Gout Gout, who received loud cheers from the crowd after finishing third in his first race at a major international championship.
In heat 1, Alexander Ogando finished first in 20.10 seconds, ahead of South Africa’s Wayde van Niekerk (20.19 seconds) — the Rio 2016 400m Olympic champion and world record holder. Ogando has high hopes for these championships, claiming that the top step on the podium is his goal: “I’m going for gold and some records that need to be broken,” he said.
Heat 2 saw Zimbabwe’s Tapiwanashe Makarawu (19.91 seconds) and the USA’s Courtney Lindsey (19.95 seconds) both dip under the 20-second mark to secure first and second place in their heat. Jamaica’s Adrian Kerr (20.13 seconds) was the third-fastest to book his place in the semi-finals.
Bednarek looked calm and composed as he won his heat in a time of 19.98 seconds. After narrowly missing out on the medals with his fourth-place finish in the 100m, the Oklahoma native will be eager for a podium finish in the half-lap event.
Perhaps the most exciting heat of the night included Lyles, Hughes, Canada’s Andre De Grasse, and Liberia’s Joseph Fahnbulleh. If Lyles was feeling any nerves, he didn’t show them, smiling and playfully sticking his tongue out at the crowd before dominating his race.
De Grasse came fourth in the heat, with only the top three qualifying automatically, but his time was fast enough to see him through to the next round. Tebogo was last up, and after a false start had ended his 100m campaign just days earlier, he may have been forgiven for feeling a little nervous heading into this race. However, starting from the outside lane, the 22-year-old raced to victory, calming any jitters and keeping hopes alive for a second consecutive major championship gold.
“When I came here, I thought about winning a medal in both the 100m and 200m,” he said. “It didn’t happen in the 100m, so now I have to fully focus on the 200m.” In heat 5, one of the biggest cheers of the night was reserved for Australia’s Gout, the teenage sprint star making waves worldwide. He did not disappoint in his race, finishing third to secure an automatic spot in the semi-finals.
“This is a memorable experience, and I cannot wait for the semi-final,” Gout remarked. “After competing at the junior level, the feeling is so different; it’s insane. The field is incredible. I have got to step up and prove myself right.” The question now is whether he can advance to his first final and continue to fulfil the enormous potential he has shown early in his career.
