100 METRE GOLD medalist Noah Lyles cruised to the final of the men’s 200 metres final here, without exerting himself to his full extent.

In Heat 1, word number 2 Kenneth Bednarek of the USA romped home with a time of 20 seconds on the nose, followed by Dominican Republic hope Alexander Ogando with a time of 20.09.

With only two qualifying, Andre DeGrasse was squeezed into third spot.

Heat 2 had Lyles fresh from his recent triumph. In his usual ebullient form he put a big spurt on at the three quarters mark, but he was well beaten by Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo to the line as he crossed at 19.96, Lyles at 20.08.

The final semi final was the closest of all with American Erriyon Knighton through on 20.098, Joseph Hahnbulleh of Liberia at 20.12 and Tapiwanashe of Zimbabwe an agonisingly close 20.16, but going through as one of the fastest of the rest along with fellow countryman Makanakaishe Charamba who ran a time of 20.31.