Lyles anchors USA to relay gold as Dutch spring bronze medal surprise in Tokyo

Key facts

• USA won gold in 37.29 seconds, the fifth fastest time in history.
• Netherlands took bronze in a national record of 37.81 seconds.
• Canada earned silver in 37.55 seconds.
• Lyles anchored the US quartet of Coleman, Bednarek, Lindsey.
• Dutch team: Taymir Burnet, Elvis Afrifa, Xavi Mo-Ajok, Nsikak Ekpo.
• USA finished with 16 gold medals, beating their 2019 record of 14.
• Lyles now has eight world golds and 10 total world medals.

A wet track, a flawless handover and a golden finish

Noah Lyles brought the curtain down on the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo with a second gold medal, anchoring the United States to victory in the men's 4×100 metres relay on Sunday. In heavy rain at the National Stadium, the American quartet of Christian Coleman, Kenny Bednarek, Courtney Lindsey and Lyles clocked 37.29 seconds, the fifth fastest time in history. Canada took silver in 37.55, while the Netherlands, the surprise of the race, claimed bronze in a national record of 37.81.

The Dutch rise from 16th to the podium

The Dutch men's relay team entered the final as the slowest qualifiers, ranked 16th. Taymir Burnet, Elvis Afrifa, Xavi Mo-Ajok and Nsikak Ekpo delivered a performance that rewrote the national record books. “We qualified as 16th, and we leave in third place, we set a new Dutch record in the rain. We deserve this,” said Mo-Ajok after the race. The bronze was a stunning turnaround for a team that had barely scraped into the final.

Lyles overcomes a slow start to seal a golden double

Lyles had a muted beginning to these championships, settling for bronze in the 100 metres behind Jamaica's Oblique Seville and Kishane Thompson. He rebounded in the 200 metres, beating Bednarek by 0.06 seconds to win his fourth consecutive world title in that event, matching Usain Bolt's record. The relay victory gave Lyles his eighth world gold and 10th world medal overall. “We all know we are the fastest. We just had to get the baton from start to finish,” Lyles said. “When Christian passed the baton, I knew it was a done deal.”

A smooth baton exchange ends years of US relay woes

American quartets have often been plagued by baton handover problems in recent championships, but in Tokyo the exchange was seamless. Coleman gave the US a flying start on the first leg. Canada's Jerome Blake clawed back some ground on the second leg, but Bednarek and Lindsey built a gap that Lyles extended on the anchor leg. For a moment, Andre de Grasse hinted at an upset for Canada, but Lyles pulled clear. Lyles' split time was only bettered by Blake and Dutch runners Burnet and Afrifa.

USA dominates medal table with record gold haul

The relay gold took the United States to 16 gold medals in these championships, more than the next five nations combined on the medal table, and 26 medals in all. The tally surpassed the previous US record of 14 golds set in Doha in 2019. Kenya finished second with seven golds and 11 total medals. The US quartet of Coleman, Ronnie Baker, Trayvon Brommel and T'Mars McCallum had run 37.98 seconds in the qualifying heats, the fourth-best time, but the final lineup proved unbeatable.

Lyles eyes Beijing and a shot at Bolt's legacy

Lyles has already set his sights on the 2027 World Championships in Beijing and has made no secret of his ambition to upstage Usain Bolt. “To become the only man to win five 200m titles,” he said. His Tokyo campaign, which began with disappointment in the 100m, ended with him smiling through every twist and turn. The Japanese crowd cheered their home quartet to sixth place, unable to match the world bronze medals of 2017 and 2019. For Lyles, the hunt for Bolt's records continues.

The bottom line

• Noah Lyles won his second gold of the 2025 World Championships, anchoring the US to a 37.29-second relay victory.
• The Netherlands, the slowest qualifiers, won bronze in a national record of 37.81 seconds.
• USA finished with 16 gold medals, a record for the team at a single World Championships.
• Lyles now has eight world golds and 10 total world medals, and aims to surpass Usain Bolt.
• Smooth baton exchanges marked a departure from recent US relay struggles.