The New Balance Indoor Grand Prix lived up to the hype last weekend, as many of the stars of the sport gathered together in Boston to compete against one another at the meet.
Noah Lyles and Marco Arop had two of the most impressive performances on the day, as the two world champions picked up big wins in their respective events.
Lyles, who set the track ablaze at the World Championships in Budapest, started off his 2024 campaign with a strong start in the men’s 60m. While he’s not known for his start, he put himself within striking distance and edged out Akeem Blake at the line, winning the race with a new personal best time of 6.44 seconds. Blake finished in second place, running 6.45 seconds.
“I knew that my first 10 meters are always going to be kind of sluggish, but so long as I’m next to everybody, I don’t care,” said Lyles to World Athletics after the race. “All I was thinking about was winning. That’s all that matters.”
Arop picked up where he left off after a successful year last season, which included him winning the World Championship in Budapest in the men’s 800m. In Boston last weekend, he won the men’s 1000m in an impressive fashion. Arop took control of the race early on, with only Bryce Hoppel being within reach of Arop. He pulled away from Hoppel and ran a new personal best time of 2:14.74, which is the second fastest time of all time in the event. Hoppel finished in second place, running 2:16.91.
