By Lori Ewing
(Reuters) – American sprinter Noah Lyles is ending his season, he announced on Friday, less than a week after he captured the sprint treble at the World Athletics Championships.
“And with that I say goodbye to the 2023 season!” Lyles said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The social media post included three checked boxes: “World’s fastest man in 100 & 200; 2 years undefeated in the 200m; 3X world champion.”
The news means the 26-year-old, arguably the U.S. team’s biggest name, will not race at home in the Diamond League final on Sept. 16-17 in Eugene.
Lyles closed his season with a victory in the 200 at the Weltklasse Diamond League meeting on Thursday in Zurich, and tops the 200m standings with wins in all three of his appearances.
The Diamond League circuit has two stops before the final, on Saturday at Xiamen, China and the Memorial Van Damme, Sept. 8-9 in Brussels.
In one of the major highlights of the Budapest world championships, Lyles captured gold in the 100, 200 and 4×100 relay, becoming the first man to achieve the feat since Jamaican Usain Bolt in 2015.
Next year’s Paris Olympics are almost three weeks earlier than the worlds were this year, with athletics scheduled for Aug. 1-11.
(Reporting by Lori Ewing; Editing by Toby Davis)
