The men’s 200m final is obviously expected this Friday (9:50 p.m.), as the peak of the day at these 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest. Yes, but wasn’t this great explanation between the best sprinters on the planet already truncated on Thursday evening by one of the most improbable hiccups in the history of the competition? We recontextualize this crazy affair: the 100m world champion Noah Lyles and several athletes ready to compete in the 200m semi-finals were transported from the warm-up stadium to the main stadium in a semi-open cart from the organization of these Worlds.
And there, at a slow pace (fortunately), another cart (the blue one in the images above) cleanly broke the priority on the right, and therefore hit the sprinters’ vehicle. If the scene can make you smile, it had consequences for Thursday evening’s semi-finals. Not for Noah Lyles, who didn’t seem very disturbed, winning his race in 19”76, a few minutes after the accident. The American is also rushing this Friday towards an unprecedented 100m-200m double in the world championships since Usain Bolt in 2015.
“Next time, I’ll come on foot!” »
But casually, the American star still did not prepare for his half in the best conditions, since the order of the races was upset. “The order of the 200m semi-finals has been changed due to the collision of two golf carts,” World Athletics wrote in a press release. An athlete and a volunteer were examined. The athlete was cleared to run. This is where the craziest side of this story appears, namely the misadventure of Jamaican Andrew Hudson, “the affected athlete” of the press release.
He explained that he had received glass in one eye at the time of the impact, and he had to have the broken glass removed by the medical teams just before the race, in which he only finished 5th, with a time of 20”38 far from his personal best (19”87 in August 2022). Given the context, Andrew Hudson logically complained, and he found himself drafted to play an exceptional final with nine riders this Friday. And this on a corridor number 1 for the less delicate. “I have to get checked again, I can see blurry in this eye,” said the 26-year-old Jamaican. It’s a shame because I felt very good in the playoffs on Wednesday. [20”25]. I ran anyway but it wasn’t ideal, my body had cooled down. Next time, I’ll come on foot! “It is indeed hard to imagine these sprinters taking a cart before the evening’s grand finale.