Lyles makes Olympic 200-meter final despite finishing second in semifinal qualifying race

SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) — Noah Lyles will race for his second Olympic gold medal despite finishing second Wednesday in the 200-meter semifinal, his first loss at that distance in three years.

Letsile Tebogo of Botswana finished the heat in 19.96 seconds, beating Lyles by .12 and marking the first time the American has lost a 200 of any kind since he finished third at the Tokyo Games.

It opened up a 24-hour period to debate and discuss the meaning of the second-place finish, which still earned Lyles an automatic qualifying spot in Thursday night's final but could have him running the curve from a less-than-ideal lane.

Last weekend, Lyles notably lost both his opening heat and the semifinal round of the 100, before coming back to eke out a .005-second victor y over Jamaica's Kishane Thompson in the final. That win came about 90 minutes after another Jamaican, Oblique Seville, beat him in the semifinal for that sprint.

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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games