Defending 100 and 200 world champion Noah Lyles won’t be on the track this week in Monaco.
Lyles withdrew from the Friday’s Wanda Diamond League competition. In a statement obtained by USA TODAY Sports, Lyles said he’s decided to stay home and continue to train in Florida.
“I’m sorry to announce that I’ve withdrawn from this Friday’s Meeting Herculis EBS in Monaco,’ Lyles said. ‘The meet is one of my favorites to compete in, and Monaco is one of my favorite places that my career has taken me to.’
My coach, my entire team and I are very pleased with what we were able to achieve at the US Olympic Trials in Eugene, however, in order to put myself in the best possible position to succeed in Paris, we have decided to spend an extra week at our training base in Florida before traveling to Europe. I’ll miss competing there on Friday, but I look forward to returning to race in Monaco next year.’
Lyles was entered to compete in the 200 in Monaco. Joshua Hartmann (Germany), Andrew Hudson (Jamaica), Alexander Ogando (Dominican Reupublic), Tarsis Orogot (Uganda), William Reais (Switzerland), Letsile Tebogo (Botswana) and Filippo Tortu (Italy) are the remaining athletes on the Wanda Diamond League 200 start list.
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Wanda Diamond League is one of the final track and field events before the Paris Olympics.
Lyles won the 100 and 200 at the U.S. Olympic trials to qualify for the Paris Games. He ranks No. 1 in the world in the 200 and No. 4 in the world in the 100. However, he’s set to enter to Paris Olympics as a gold-medal favorite in both events.
Carl Lewis was the last American man to win the 100-200 sprint double, doing so at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984.
Lyles is also expected to be a member of Team USA’s 4×100-relay team in Paris.
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