Retired Jamaican sprint king, Usain Bolt, must have had a nervous moment, or two, when American Noah Lyes was recorded crossing the line in 18.90, in a 200m sprint, during the socially distanced Inspiration Games earlier this week.
It turns out, however, in a massive error, that the athlete had only run 185 metres after starting from the wrong spot. The novel competition saw 28 athletes split into three teams, taking part in eight events, at seven different venues.
Competitors were connected by a live video and timing link with a split-screen. Lyles represented Team North America, and convincingly beat Team Europe's Christophe Lemaitre, in Zurich, and Team World's Churandy Martina, in Papendal. The organisers at the Bradenton, Florida track while Lyles ran, however, didn’t get things quite right and he was later disqualified.
In a recent interview with Variety, Bolt, who will be featured in the upcoming Greatness Code Apple series, admitted that these days he was more focused on being a good dad. He, however, still enjoys watching track and field but stays clear of any thoughts of picking his successor. Bolt previously picked compatriot Yohan Blake and South African Wayde Van Niekerk to replace him as the new king of sprinting. While Blake is yet to recover the type of form that saw him crowned the world’s second-fastest man, van Niekerk broke the 400m world record but then suffered a serious injury.
“For me, I’m just watching. I think I tend to have bad luck in picking people. When I say I like this person at times it doesn’t work out,” Bolt said.
Bolt's records of 9.58, over 100m, and 19.19, in the 200m, are now 11 years old.