American sprinter Noah Lyles has clocked the fastest 150 metres ever recorded, running 14.67 seconds at the Golden Spike athletics meet in Ostrava, a city in the eastern Czech Republic, on Tuesday. The 28-year-old Olympic champion edged South Africa's Sinesipho Dambile, who finished second in 14.78 seconds, while Australian teenage sensation Gout Gout took third place in 14.96. "Was there ever any doubt? Was there ever any doubt? We came for a show," an elated Lyles told Czech television after the race.
The result improves on the previous world best of 14.72 seconds set by Jamaica's Kishane Thompson in April in Miramar, Florida — itself only weeks old. The 150 metres is a non-standard distance rarely contested at major meetings, which is part of what makes such records unofficial world bests rather than formally ratified world records. Lyles, a four-time world champion in the 200 metres who won the 100 metres gold at the Paris 2024 Olympics, has been in strong form throughout the season, posting a 9.88 in the 100 metres at the Wanda Diamond League meet in Rome earlier this month.
The race also served as a high-profile showcase for 18-year-old Gout Gout, who had deliberately targeted the event as an opportunity to compete against the world's best. Gout, who set an under-20 world record of 19.67 seconds in the 200 metres at the Australian national championships in April — a time faster than Usain Bolt's best at the same age — has spent time training alongside Lyles. His third-place finish underscored the rapidly rising expectations surrounding him.
Elsewhere at the Golden Spike meeting, Swiss runner Audrey Werro won the women's 800 metres in 1 minute 54.45 seconds, beating Dutch star Femke Bol — competing in only her second outdoor 800 metres — who clocked an impressive 1:57.13 in her transition away from the 400 metres hurdles. Werro's time was the eighth fastest in history, though it still fell more than a second short of the oldest standing world record in athletics, the 1:53.28 set in 1983 by Jarmila Kratochvilova of then-Czechoslovakia, who watched the race from the stands in Ostrava.
Lyles's world-best run matters beyond the result itself. The 150 metres, though uncommon, attracts attention precisely because it tests a sprinter's ability to reach and sustain top speed beyond the burst of a 100 metres, and Lyles's performance reinforces his standing as the dominant force in global sprinting heading into another major championship season. His combination of elite performance and crowd-pleasing personality — he is known for his anime enthusiasm and high-energy showmanship — has made him one of the sport's most prominent figures, a status reflected by his inclusion on this year's Time100 list of the world's most influential people.