The legend of Michael Norman and Noah Lyles continues to grow.

Today at the Diamond League meeting in Rome, 400m specialist Norman took down fellow precocious 21-year-old American Lyles, a short sprinter, in the 200m for the first time by narrowly holding off a late charge from him in the final meters of the race. 

Norman's 19.70 reset his 19.84 PR, the meet record, and the world lead. He and Lyles turned in the only sub-20 performances in the race.

In this week's meet preview, I wrote that it's worth remembering a few things about this matchup, including:

• Prior to today's race, Lyles' average margin of victory against Norman was just .1.
• Lyles' greatest margin of victory over Norman occurred while he was in peak form in the middle of his second professional outdoor season and Norman was at the tail end of a laborious year of NCAA competition.
• When Norman ran a 43.45 PR in April—the fastest debut by any man in history—he proved he's already in absurd form and probably stronger than ever.

In closing, I contended that if Lyles got caught sleeping at the gun, as he did in his recent race where he barely caught Christian Coleman over 100m in Shanghai, Norman might be able to hold him off.

Although I wouldn't exactly characterize Lyles' start today that way, Norman's was definitely superior as he kept his head down, stayed in the drive phase longer, and generated much more power and speed into the turn than Lyles, which allowed him to blast into the homestretch with a sizeable lead. At that point, the pressure was on Lyles to play catch-up, and he almost did—but ran out of real estate right at the line. 

WHAT ? A ? RACE ? #RomeDL
19.70 - Michael Norman
19.72 - Noah Lyles pic.twitter.com/oBa6iErwCa

— FloTrack (@FloTrack) June 6, 2019

Norman's victory marked his first over his Lyles, bringing their overall record to 3-1 and Lyles' average margin of victory over Norman even lower to .08. 

If I were coaching Lyles, I would be heading back to the U.S. with plans to double down on trying to improve his start—it isn't advantageous to always need to hunt down your opponents in the short sprints, as is the case for Lyles when he lines up against the likes of Norman and Coleman. 

It seems like Lyles acknowledged that to reporters after the race:

"This race didn't really go as expected—winning is what is always expected—but I ran faster than in the last race, so I can feel great things will happen... I need to stay healthy, improve my start, as much as my finish, so I can come out strong."

Watch Norman hold off Lyles:

The future is fast. pic.twitter.com/1xDghCJOgO

— FloTrack (@FloTrack) June 6, 2019

Genzebe Dibaba & Laura Muir Duel En Route To 3:56 World Lead

Earlier this week, I asked "what's a European champion to a world record holder?" and although Genzebe Dibaba obviously stands heads and shoulders above the rest of the globe (and history) with her 3:50.07 PR, it doesn't mean Laura Muir can't rise to the occasion as a challenging opponent. 

Today, she hung with Dibaba up until the bitter end, charging hard, but ultimately was outlasted. Dibaba took the race in 3:56.28—a world lead and her fastest time since breaking the world record—as the Brit ran her second-fastest 1500m ever and ninth sub-4:00 close behind in 3:56.73.

In her third race of the year (second outdoors and first 1500m of the season), Jenny Simpson looked solid with a fourth-place 4:01.18 behind Ethiopia's Gudaf Tsegay (3:59.96). In seventh, first-year pro Elinor Purrier smashed her 4:07 PR with a 4:02.34 effort in her Diamond League debut. Both marks are well under both the world and Olympic standards.

Stunning run from Genzebe Dibaba in the #RomeDL ?? 1500m

The world record holder wins in 3:56.28 after breaking away from @lauramuiruns, who comes home second in 3:56.73. Gudaf Tsegay is third in 3:59.96

⏱: https://t.co/VA8eciJNoG pic.twitter.com/67gq9yH27l

— IAAF (@iaaforg) June 6, 2019

Donavan Brazier Resets World Lead In First Diamond League Win

22-year-old Donavan Brazier emphatically earned his first Diamond League victory over the ever-intimidating 1:41 man Nijel Amos of Botswana by two hundredths of a second as he blazed past him in the final few strides to the finish, 1:43.63 (the new world lead) to 1:43.65. Brazier's Nike Oregon Project teammate, 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Clayton Murphy, couldn't find an extra gear at the end and landed in fifth (1:44.59). This brings their head-to-head record to 5-1 in Brazier's favor.

Canada's Brandon McBride had a nice showing with a third-place, 1:43.90 finish over Kenya's Cheruiyot Ferguson Rotich (1:44.11). The entire field posted season's bests in the race. 

Here's what winning by .02 looks like:

Brazier with the lean!

Donavan Brazier wins the 800m in a world leading 1:43.63, bursting late and out-dipping @amosnijel on the line for his first #DiamondLeague win by 0.02-secs#RomeDL ?? pic.twitter.com/sdq4AaVPB9

— IAAF (@iaaforg) June 6, 2019

Hot Men's 5K Leads To World Lead, Olympic Standards For Ben True & Justyn Knight

Ben True became the first and only American to obtain the 5K Olympic standard today as he ran 13:09.76 amid a blistering pace that resulted in a new world lead of 12:52.98—a PR for Haile Telahun Bekele. Ethiopia swept the top three as Bekele was followed closely by 5K stalwart Selemon Barega in 12:53.04, and then Hagos Gebrhiwet in 12:54.92. 

Justyn Knight also nabbed the Olympic standard for Canada with an outstanding 13:09.76 PR that improved on his former best mark from 2017 by almost eight seconds. 

As noted by Dan Lilot, True's performance today was the sixth-fastest of his career, his sixth finish under 13:10, and his fifth year running under the barrier.

Watch our behind-the-scenes video on Justyn Knight's pursuit of the 5K standard:

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Elaine Thompson Rebounds In 100m Over Dina Asher-Smith

Reigning Olympic champion Elaine Thompson of Jamaica looked more like herself today as she slowed Great Britain's Dina Asher-Smith's season-long roll with a win in the 100m with a time of 10.89—her quickest in almost two years. In Stockholm just over a week ago, Thompson, who owns a 200m PR of 21.66, got buried by Asher-Smith over a half-lap, 22.18 to 22.66.

Asher-Smith finished runner-up in 10.94, and former LSU standout Aleia Hobbs took third in 11.12. 

Olympic champion Elaine Thompson is back in top form winning the women's 100m in 10.89 #RomeDLhttps://t.co/iIBN9k5fnO pic.twitter.com/cR7UmMwc0P

— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) June 6, 2019