EUGENE
\nReigning 100m world champions Sha\u2019Carri Richardson and Noah Lyles cruised through their opening heats at the US Track and Field trials on Thursday as they build towards the defence of their global titles at September\u2019s World Championships.
\nBoth Richardson and Lyles have already booked their tickets to Tokyo due to their status as reigning champions, but are using this week\u2019s meeting at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, to hone their form.
\nThe charismatic Richardson finished ninth at the Prefontaine Classic at Eugene earlier in July in a modest time of 11.19 sec.
\nBut the 25-year-old Texan indicated she is making progress after finishing second in her heat in a time of 11.07sec, behind Kayla White in 10.89sec.
\nRichardson\u2019s time was the 11th fastest of the opening heats, where Melissa Jefferson-Wooden impre\u00adssed running 10.86sec into a 1.5m\/s headwind.
\n\u201cFelt amazing to run a qualifying, show fitness and take the rest of the time to get ready for Tokyo,\u201d said Richardson, adding that she is comfortable competing while knowing that her World Championship berth is assured.
\n\u201cUS is one of the hardest teams to make, so it definitely is kind of a release of pressure knowing I have a bye,\u201d she told AFP.
\n\u201cIt feels really good to not have that pressure and still be able to go to Tokyo.\u201d
\nRichardson meanwhile is relaxed about the fact she will head to Tokyo with other sprinters likely ahead of her in the betting stakes.
\n\u201cRight now I\u2019m cruising under the radar, but when it\u2019s time to hit \u2014 it\u2019s gonna be a bang where y\u2019all see my name,\u201d she said.
\nIn the men\u2019s 100m, meanwhile, Richardson\u2019s fellow world champion Lyles won his heat in 10.05sec, the fifth fastest time of the first round.
\nLyles told reporters he is using this weekend to get as much racing under his belt as possible, even though he was under no obligation to run given his bye.
\n\u201cI need races \u2014 everybody knows I started the season late due to injury,\u201d said Lyles, who was beaten in his first 100m of the season at the London Diamond League on July 19.
\n\u201cI just need as many races as possible. After the 100m in London, me and my coach were like \u2018We might as well (race at trials)\u2019. It\u2019s a free race, it\u2019s good competition.\u201d
\nLyles, though, said he has seen encouraging signs that he is rounding back to full fitness.
\n\u201cI just need more races \u2014 I\u2019ve got to get the engine firing and get that urgency into my body,\u201d Lyles said. \u201cBut that was just my second 100m of the year; I can\u2019t really be mad at that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
EUGENE Reigning 100m world champions Sha\u2019Carri Richardson and Noah Lyles cruised through their opening heats at the US Track and Field trials on Thursday as they build towards the defence of their global titles at September\u2019s World Championships. Both Richardson and Lyles have already booked their tickets to Tokyo due to their status as reigning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-494513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n