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Noah Lyles and Sha’Carri Richardson will be looking to light up the Olympics in Paris this summer as part of Team USA’s roster of 120 track and field competitors.
Lyles, 27, beat his personal best for the 100m with a time of 9.81 seconds at the Diamond League meeting in London on Saturday but will face stiff competition at the highest level from the South African Akani Simbine – who holds a 100m personal best of 9.84 seconds – as well as from the likes of Ferdinand Omanyala, Oblique Seville and his fellow Americans Fred Kerley and Kenny Bednarek.
The runner from Gainesville, Florida, is best known for his prowess in the 200m, holding the national record with a time of 19.31 seconds – the fourth fastest in recorded history.
He picked up a bronze in the 200m at the Tokyo Olympics and will be hoping to make it gold this time around.
For Richardson, 24, the Paris Olympics marks her belated debut to the Games after she was barred from competing in Japan after testing positive for THC, a banned substance under the World Anti-Doping Agency rules.
In her absence, the Jamaican sprinter Elaine Thompson-Herah won the women’s 100m with a time of 10.61 seconds, still some way short of American Florence Griffith Joyner’s world record of 10.49 seconds – a record that Richardson has her heart set on smashing.
The sprinter and her American teammates Twanisha “TeeTee” Terry and Melissa Jefferson will face huge competition in that distance from Jamaica once again, with a line-up that includes Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Shericka Jackson and Hansle Parchment.
Gabby Thomas, Brittany Brown and McKenzie Long will represent Team USA in the women’s 200m dash.
Here’s when to watch the key races involving Team USA’s sprinting stars:
Friday August 2
- Women’s 100m Preliminary Round 4.35am ET (10.35am local time)
- Women’s 100m Round 1 5.50am ET (11.50am local time)
Saturday August 3
- Men’s 100m Preliminary Round 4.35am ET (10.35am local time)
- Men’s 100m Round 1 5.55am ET (11.45am local time)
- Women’s 100m Semi-Final 1.50pm ET (7.50pm local time)
- Women’s 100m Final 3.20pm ET (9.20pm local time)
Sunday August 4
- Women’s 200m Round 1 4.55am ET (10.55am local time)
- Men’s 100m Semi-Final 2pm ET (8pm local time)
- Men’s 100m Final 3.50pm ET (9.50pm local time)
Monday August 5
- Men’s 200m Round 1 1.55pm ET (7.55pm local time)
- Women’s 200m Semi-Final 2.45pm ET (8.45pm local time)
Tuesday August 6
- Women’s 200m Final 3.40pm ET (9.40pm local time)
Wednesday August 7
- Men’s 200m Semi-Final 2pm ET (8pm local time)
Friday August 8
- Men’s 200m Final 2.30pm ET (8.30pm local time)
Friday August 9
- Women’s 4x100m Relay Round 1 4.40am ET (10.40am local time)
- Men’s 4x100m Relay Round 1 5.05pm ET (11.05pm local time)
- Women’s 4x100m Relay Final 1.30pm ET (7.30pm local time)
- Men’s 4x100m Relay Final 1.45pm ET (7.45pm local time)
You can see the full lineup of events from the Paris Olympics’ athletics schedule via the Games’ official website.
The Independent’s day-by-day guide to the Games is here.
