Lyles yet to sign up for Ultimate Championship

Noah Lyles says he is not sure to run in next year's inaugural Ultimate Championship in a potentially huge blow to World Athletics' new event that is supposed to showcase the best of the best over three days in Budapest.

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Fresh from securing his fourth successive world 200 metres title, the 28-year-old Lyles said a September return to Budapest, where he did the world championships sprint double in 2023, is far from guaranteed.

"Me and World Athletics are still in talks on whether I'll even go to Ultimate Championship," he told Reuters in an interview at his Adidas Tokyo HQ on Saturday.

"They've claimed that they want to get athletes more involved. We plan to have more talks in the future about that and what that could mean."

The Ultimate Championship has been introduced by the sport's governing body to fill the "void" in a non-global championship year, with two editions of the world championships and the Olympics filling three of every four.

It will have a prize fund of $10 million, with winners receiving $150 000 - by far the biggest prize available in the sport.

It will take place from September 11-13, with no heats, just a high-octane succession of track and field finals featuring the world and Olympic champions and Diamond League winners.

However, the absence of the biggest name in the sport would be a huge setback. World Athletics has been asked to comment.

Lyles was calm and relaxed on Saturday, his hair in neat braids in a far cry from the start line of the 200m where, with his hair bleached and wild, he let out a huge, guttural roar with his arms raised as his name was read out.

"It's a battle cry. It's a moment where you go from having all the pieces to go beyond your limits," he explained.

"You have the crowd, you have the world championships, you have the racers and now you have the moment. It's powering up, it's knowing that you're about to push your body to the absolute point of no return."

LYLES RUNS SUPERB RACE TO OVERHAUL BEDNAREK

It certainly did the trick as Lyles ran a superb race to overhaul compatriot Kenny Bednarek to win in 19.52 seconds.

It was agony for Bednarek, who settled for a fourth global silver, but the 26-year-old - like Justin Gatlin when operating in the shadow of Usain Bolt - will almost certainly have to clear Lyles from his mind if he is ever going to beat him.

Lyles, asked if his "aura" was affecting the way some rivals are running, perhaps dipping too early aware that he always finishes so strongly, said: "I'm sure it gets to some.

"But the funniest thing is that I'm actually a great starter in the 200 metres. I was looking at the data yesterday and I ran 10.11 on my first 100. That's the fastest bend I've ever had, even faster than when I broke the American record.

"So it's not that I'm not running fast bends, it's that others' strategy has been 'I have to beat him off the bend or I'll have no chance on the straight'. "And knowing they have that strategy is what gives me peace of mind to say, 'okay, you're not going to be able to last'."

Lyles is set to run in Sunday's 4x100m relay final, should his teammates get through Saturday's heats, when he will hope to add to his medal haul having also taken bronze in the 100m.

Regardless of his 2026 plans, he has a mouth-watering time ahead with the 2027 world championships in Beijing and then a home Olympics at Los Angeles 2028.

"Beijing, yeah, five in a row. I could be the first in the 200 to ever do that. That would be pretty amazing," said Lyles, whose four on the trot matched Bolt's record in the 200m.

"And then preparing for LA, I think some really cool things are on the horizon."

TRIPLE OLYMPIC CHAMPION THIAM OUT OF TOKYO HEPTATHLON

Belgium's triple Olympic champion Nafi Thiam pulled out of the heptathlon at the world championships on Saturday after an underwhelming long jump left her with almost no chance of a medal.

The 31-year-old, who won world titles in 2017 and 2022, failed to get over the six-metre mark with her two legal jumps on Saturday morning to stand in eighth place in the overall standings, 377 points behind competition-leader Anna Hall.

Multiple Belgian media outlets reported that Thiam, who last lost in competition at the 2019 worlds, had been withdrawn by her coach before the javelin and 800 metres in the evening session.

Thiam did not turn up for the start of the evening session and was listed as "Did Not Start" when the javelin competition got under way at the National Stadium.

"I've struggled with this heptathlon from the start. I tried to fight it and persevere, but it clearly didn't work," a tearful Thiam told Het Nieuwsblad after Saturday morning's session.

"I started this morning thinking I would fight until the end and not leave empty-handed because I've worked hard this year ...

"I knew I could do something good here and fight for my place in the standings but that didn't happen. So I'm disappointed, yes. This championship is a real black cloud."

Thiam competed sparingly in 2025 and had a disrupted run up to the championships after a row with her national federation.

She accused the Belgian athletics body of excluding her from their pre-championships camp in a row over image rights. The federation denied the allegation.

Thiam was asked whether the row had impacted her performances in Tokyo.

"It's hard to quantify that," she told the newspaper. "Regardless of the reasons why I feel the way I do, the reality remains that I feel the way I do. So that doesn't make a difference."

SEVILLE DEPRIVED OF DOUBLE WORLD TILT AFTER JAMAICA FUMBLE RELAY BATON

World 100 metres gold medallist Oblique Seville was on Saturday deprived of a tilt at a golden double in Tokyo after a fumbled baton saw Jamaica fail to advance to the 4x100 metres relay final.

Ackeem Blake handed off to Seville on the second leg, and the handover to Ryiem Forde on the third leg was slick.

But then came disaster as Forde's attempt to pass the baton on to anchor leg runner and world 100m silver medallist Kishane Thompson failed.

South Africa and Britain will also miss out on the final on Sunday.

The eight teams that qualified are the highly-fancied United States, who did get the baton round safely, as well as Ghana, Canada, the Netherlands, Japan, Germany, Australia and France.

While Noah Lyles, who won a fourth world 200m title on Friday, did not run as part of the US quartet in the heats, he would be expected to take part in the final.

DUTCHWOMAN SCHILDER TAKES WORLD SHOT GOLD WITH FINAL THROW

Jessica Schilder of the Netherlands produced a last-throw stunner to win the women’s world shot put gold on Saturday, denying American Chase Jackson a third successive title at the death.

Schilder, the 2022 bronze medallist, was down in fifth with a best of 19.51 metres but found 20.29 with her final attempt.

Jackson was also below her best but responded with her own big last effort, falling just short with 20.21 but enough for second.

Maddison-Lee Wesche of New Zealand took bronze with her personal best first-round throw of 20.06, which for most of the night looked to be enough to earn gold.

HALL LANDS HEPTATHLON GOLD, BRONZE SHARED AFTER POINTS TIE

Anna Hall won the heptathlon 800 metres in two minutes 06.08 seconds at the world championships on Saturday to secure her first global gold medal and bring the world title back to the United States for the first time since 1993.

Bronze medallist in Eugene in 2022 and second in Budapest in 2023, the 24-year-old took the final step up to the top of the podium with 6 888 points after leading the competition for much of the two days.

Ireland's Kate O'Connor finished second with a national record 6 714 points, while Britain's defending champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson and American Taliyah Brooks shared bronze after finishing with an identical tally of 6 581.

Belgium's triple Olympic and twice world champion Nafi Thiam, who had not been beaten in competition since 2019, withdrew on Saturday after an underwhelming long jump left her with almost no chance of a medal.