The World Championships are in full flow, and the US athletes have made some favorable progress too. With the likes of Noah Lyles winning the 200m gold, the women’s 4×100 relay team, anchored by Sha’Carri Richardson, has cruised to the finals. And now, while fans would be expecting a gold medal finish from the women’s team, the men’s team, too, is not lagging far behind. Putting up a great showing in the semis, the USA relay team will be fancying nothing more than a gold. However, in their quest to achieve glory, the US athletes have to deal with quite a tricky situation with their lane assignment. 

According to the recent reports from Travis Miller on X, the lanes have been assigned to all the teams for the finals. And much to the dismay of the US fans, the team has landed with a lane 7 assignment – the same lane on which Noah Lyles finished his 200m semifinal run with a time of 19.51. Well, usually, for a champion team like the USA, lane assignments must not be a problem. But as far as lane 7 is concerned, it is considered as one of hardest among the lot. And there are pretty good reasons for the same. 

Firstly, starting from lane 7 USA Relay team might not be able to get a good vision of their rivals until the final stretch. Surely, trying to win a world championship gold, no team would want to run with a blindspot for practically half of the race. After all, they won’t be able to react and adjust according to their opponents’ tactics. Interestingly, the 2024 Paris Olympics 4x100m relay gold medalist team Canada will have a great shot at winning the race, as they will be starting from lane 5, a place considered as the best starting point in the track events. 

Unfortunately, this is not where the woes of being in lane 7 end. While the lane does not have a tight angle like the inside lanes, it won’t feel as smooth as lanes 8 or 9 too. This means that the entire scenario will be kind of like a middle ground, to which the athletes will need to adjust constantly. Though no such empirical evidence exists to support the claim that one’s inability to see competitors when running in an outside lane creates a disadvantage, there’s often a motivational or psychological component associated with lane assignments.

Lanes are usually assigned as per the qualifying times in the heats. Thus, a seventh lane allotment might pose the thought of not being one of the top seeds in such a critical race. Surely, till now, things are looking pretty much somber for Team USA. But there’s the silver lining as well. Despite getting lane 7, USA’s very own Noah Lyles stormed past his opponents in the 200m semifinals.

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Noah Lyles defeated ghosts of lane 7 to clinch 200m gold

Noah Lyles had a heartbreak in Tokyo. Trying to assert his dominance in the World Championships, the US sprinter failed initially. Aspiring to replicate his Paris heroics, Lyles wanted to clinch the 100m gold. Unfortunately, struggling to find his rhythm, the Olympic gold medalist had to be satisfied with a bronze. Luckily for him, things took a turn for the good in the 200m. With lots of doubts surrounding Lyles’ current form, an added con came in the form of the lane 7 start in the 200m semifinal. 

But Lyles is not somebody who would give up without fighting. He immediately took up the challenge and blazed his way past the others to reach the finals. Lyles also proved that the lane 7 jitters can be overcome with proper technique and zeal. Interestingly, with lane 6 placement in the finals, the 28-year-old Clocked a 19.52s finish to clinch the gold. 

He got added to the elite bracket, where Usain Bolt, too, managed to win four back-to-back major gold medals from 2009 to 2015. Thus, with Lyles himself leading the way by example, Team USA, despite facing some initial struggles, should be able to shirk it off and aim for glory.