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Noah Lyles cruised past the competition on the track, passing fellow runner Kenny Bednarek for the win. He then looked his way to let him know.
Bednarek responded with a two-handed shove in the back after they crossed the finish line, and more heated words and a challenge for a rematch.
Noah Lyles wins race, follows up with a stare down
“Like I’ve said before, Noah’s going to be Noah,” Bednarek said. “If he wants to stare me down, that’s fine.”
Lyles passed Bednarek and crossed in 19.63 seconds for a .04-second victory that sets up a rematch at the world championships Sept. 19 in Tokyo.
“I expect my apology,” Noah Lyles could be heard saying, after appearing to initially refuse Bednarek’s attempts at a handshake following the stare down.
The pair’s argument then bled into NBC’s winner’s interview, with both sprinters eventually agreeing to talk off track.
“What he said didn’t matter, it’s just what he did,” Bednarek said. “Unsportsmanlike sh*t and I don’t deal with that.”
“It’s a respect factor. At the end of the day, he’s fresh. Last time we lined it up, I beat him, that’s all I can say. Next time we line up, I’m going to win.”
“I’m not going to say it out here, but we’ve got something to do and talk about,” Bednarek told Lewis Johnson on NBC Sports when asked about the look and shove to Noah Lyles.
He added: “The grand summary is: don’t do that to me. I don’t do any of that stuff. I think it’s not good character right there. That’s pretty much it. At the end of the day, he won the race, so I’ve got to give him his props. He was the better man today.”
Lyles says “no comment” after the race
After Sunday’s race, Lyles refused to speak about the feud with Bednarek, saying “no comment” when asked about it by reporters.
Athletes competing at nationals were vying for spots at September’s World Championships with the top three in most events making the team. But Noah Lyles already had a bye onto the team for worlds in Tokyo in both the 100m and 200m as the defending world champion in each event.