Track star Noah Lyles broke a 26-year American record in the men’s 200m race at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon Thursday night, crossing the finish line at 19.31 seconds and leading a U.S. sweep of the event.

It was a victory for the U.S., but especially so for fans in Alexandria, where Lyles, 25, grew up and graduated from Alexandria City High School, then known as T.C. Williams, in 2016.

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The previous American record was 19.32, set by Michael Johnson at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Lyles beat that time by just .01 seconds. His record is now the third fastest internationally in history, behind Usain Bolt’s 19.19 and Yohan Blake’s 19.26.

This was not Lyles’ first time winning the World Athletics Championships. He also won gold in 2019 at the 200m race. During the Tokyo Summer Olympics in 2021, he won bronze.

American sprinters Kenneth Bednarek and Erriyon Knighton won silver and bronze respectively on Thursday, with times of 19.77 and 19.80 seconds.

This post has been updated to correct the location of the 1996 Olympics.