Noah Lyles Reacts After Being Beaten by Training Partner Jordan Anthony in USATF Indoor 60m Final

In a symbolic passing of the torch, Jordan Anthony was presented with a championship belt by Noah Lyles after storming to victory in the men's 60m at the USA Track and Field Indoor Championships in Staten Island, New York, on Sunday.

Anthony, the 2025 NCAA 60m and 100m champion, secured his first professional national title with a blistering time of 6.45 seconds.

He edged out 2016 World Indoor champion Trayvon Bromell by just two-hundredths of a second. Noah Lyles, the reigning Olympic 100m gold medallist, finished third in 6.51.

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Following the race, Lyles, who won the event at the 2024 USATF Indoors, handed the belt to Anthony, his training partner.

"The start of my season, I didn’t have two good races," Anthony told NBC Sports. "I needed a little bit of humbling to remember who I am, that dog mentality. Everybody said I fell off. I was trying to find out where I was."

The national championships serve as the qualifier for the World Indoor Championships in Poland, scheduled for March 20-22.

Noah Lyles had previously stated he would not compete at the world event, even if he qualified, due to his upcoming wedding in early April.

"I have no doubt in Jordan," Lyles commented. "I watched him at the beginning of the year, and I was like, ‘Well, I’m not going to (world) indoors, so I guess he’s winning.’"

Anthony currently holds the world's fastest 60m time for 2026, having clocked an impressive 6.43 three weeks ago. "I enjoy training with (Lyles)," said Anthony, a former wide receiver at the University of Arkansas. "It’s a great mutual relationship... Of course, we’re going to talk smack. The sport is soft if we don’t."

In other events, 17-year-old Cooper Lutkenhaus made history by winning the men's 800m in 1:46.68. He is now the youngest American man to win a national track and field title since Athing Mu-Nikolayev in 2019.

Lutkenhaus, who will compete at the World Indoors during his high school spring break, aims to redeem his early exit from last year's outdoor world championships in Tokyo.

Nikki Hiltz continued their dominance in the women's 1500m, capturing a record-extending seventh consecutive U.S. title across both indoor and outdoor competitions. "Happy an old dog like me, at 31, can still come away with a win," Hiltz said after the race.

The men's 1500m saw a surprise victory for Nathan Green, who narrowly defeated his former University of Washington teammate Luke Houser with a time of 3:37.65. Olympic medalists Yared Nuguse and Cole Hocker finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

Jacious Sears claimed her first national title in the women's 60m, while Jasmine Moore, an Olympic bronze medalist, completed a sweep of the long jump and triple jump events over the weekend.