Noah Lyles escalated his rivalry with Oblique Seville after taking aim at the Jamaican’s shaky start at the World Athletics Championships.
The pair both came through their 100m heats in Tokyo, with Seville only just qualifying for the semi-finals after a poor start to his race.
Olympic gold medalist Lyles only began his outdoor season in July due to a tendon injury, but has looked well on the pace at the worlds.
The American star powered through Heat 3 with a time of 9.95 seconds and delivered a confident assessment post-race.
“This is the best form I have ever been in my life,” the defending champion said. “I am bringing special things here.
“Running 9.95 in the first round is exactly what I wanted to warm up my body.”
Lyles also fired a sneaky dig at rival Seville, who had been touted as one of his main threats to the defence of his 100m crown.
The 24-year-old suffered a poor start in Heat 1, but fought back to secure the third automatic qualifying spot in 9.93 seconds.
“Yeah, I knew that [having a slow reaction time] was going to happen,” Lyles claimed to Peacock when asked about Seville.
“That man was panicking in the back, but he’s a gamer, so hopefully he will get it back and we will have a great final.”
Seville first got the better of Lyles when he ran a world-leading 9.82s to the 28-year-old’s 9.85 at the 2024 Racers Grand Prix in Kingston.
The Jamaican then finished ahead of the six-time World champion again twice during Diamond League wins in London and Lausanne.
Usain Bolt backs Jamaicans to beat Noah Lyles
However, Lyles won the headline meeting between the pair at the Paris Olympics by claiming gold, with Seville crossing the line eighth.
Usain Bolt, who retired after the 2017 worlds in London, backed either Kishane Thompson or Seville to beat Lyles in Tokyo.
“Kishane and Oblique have really shown this season that they’re really doing extremely well,” he said.
“They should be 1-2 at least because they have proven throughout the season that they are at the top and they’re running fast times. So it’s just all about execution.”
Thompson, who pushed Lyles to a photo finish at the Olympics, boasted an identical time of 9.95 to qualify for the 100m semis.
Seville staying positive despite slow start
Seville isn’t allowing his shaky start to his world championships to throw off his quest to challenge Lyles and Thompson for glory.
“It’s not pretty scary,” he responded to questions on his slow start to the race, before adding: “I’m not doubting anyone and their performance, it’s just for me to take it a step at a time.
“I’m in the semi-final, I’m just going to take it from here and do my best.”
He added to the Jamaican Observer, “I’ve had a number of races that I’ve come from behind.
“As an athlete, you will not always get the perfect start; you will have moments when you have to recover from a bad one, and I’ve learned my lesson both ways, so I know what to do.”
