dpa
Paris
American Noah Lyles failed to impress as he started his sprint treble bid at the Paris Olympics while German Leo Neugebauer reclaimed the decathlon lead into the final two disciplines on Saturday.
Lyles came out of blocks slowly in the 100-metre heats as he clocked 10.04 seconds, coming second behind Briton Louie Hinchliffe who set 9.98.
Lyles won 100m, 200m and 4x100m gold at the 2023 world championships and wants to do the same in Paris.
Team-mates Kenneth Bednarek and Fred Kerley led the way into Sunday’s semi-finals and final from the eight heats after 9.97s, with Jamaican season leader Kishane Thompson in 10.00 and Tokyo 2024 champion Marcell Jacobs in 10.05 also through.
Lyles vows improvement Lyles said that “I pretty much downplayed my competitors, but you know it will be different tomorrow.
“Stick around for the final because you will see some stuff, for real.
“I didn’t feel a lot of joy last time I was at the Olympics. This time, I have a lot of joy, a lot of excitement. It’s a wonderful crowd, and I am ready to perform for them,” he added in reference to Tokyo being without fansin 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
There was heartbreak for Britain’s Jeremiah Azu when he was disqualified for a false start, and so was Canada’s Aaron Brown.
Duplantis untroubled Also on the schedule was pole vault qualifying, with Swedish superstar Armand Duplantis leading the way into Monday’s final where the world record holder seeks back-to-back golds.
But there was a huge shock when American Chris Nielsen crashed out, the silver medallist from Tokyo and the 2022 worlds and bronze medallist from the 2023 worlds.
Neugebauer boosted by Warner shock World leader Neugebauer meanwhile lost his overnight decathlon lead to Tokyo champion Damian Warner after the 110m hurdles but returned to the top after the discus throw.
He then watched Warner fail to set a height in the pole vault and plummet down the standings in a big boost to the German’s hopes of gold.
Neubauer himself jumped 5.00m to lead pole vault second-placed finisher Markus Rooth of Norway by 7,410 points to 7,271 overall before the javelin and concluding 1,500m later.
Saturday’s other four medal events are the women’s 100m and triple jump, the men’s shot put and the mixed 4x400m relay where the United States bettered the world record in the heats.
