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The tension between Noah Lyles and Kenny Bednarek escalated during the US Championships on Sunday (Aug. 3).
During the 200m final at the USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships, Lyles and Bednarek were neck and neck, with Bednarek leading the race. However, within the final seconds of the event, Lyles overtook Bednarek. The tension rose when Bednarek pushed Lyles, and they exchanged some words.
Bednarek reached for Lyles' hand to shake, but it wasn't before the six-time World champion uttered “I expect my apology.”
Lyles, who won a gold medal at the 2024 Olympic Games in the 100m, declined to speak to reporters about the incident after the race. Bednarek, on the other hand, shared his side.
“Noah is going to be Noah,” Bednarek told reporters after the race, per CNN. “What he said didn’t matter, it’s just what he did. Unsportsmanlike s–t and I don’t deal with that. It’s a respect factor.”
“At the end of the day, he’s fresh,” Bednarek continued. “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.”
Kenny Bednarek shares what caused Noah Lyles altercation at US Championships
In the last two Olympic finals, Bednarek beat Lyles when he won silver in both 2020 (Tokyo) and 2024 (Paris), while Lyles finished with bronze in both.
“The grand summary is: don’t do that to me,” he added. “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.”
Bednarek shared that it goes deeper than a sports rivalry and suggests that the two handle their differences off the track.
“It’s just some personal stuff that we gotta handle,” he told CNN. “He’s got my number, if he wants to call me, he has every chance to do it, but he wants to come out and do that. I think that’s funny.”
“At the end of the day, he can call me whenever,” he continued. “We can discuss it and we should be good.”
While Bednarek shared that they have differences he did not go into detail to exactly what caused their rift.
“I’m not going to say it out here,” he told NBC Sports, “but we’ve got something to do and talk about.”
Both Bednarek and Lyles qualified for the World Championships and they will represent the U.S. in Tokyo on Sept. 19.
