Pole vault superstar Duplantis teases 100-meter champion Lyles about post-race push by Bednarek

CHORZOW, Poland (AP) — Maybe only a track and field superstar like Mondo Duplantis could get away with such a mischievous question to Olympic 100-meter champion Noah Lyles.

The pole vault world record holder wanted to know more Friday about the shove Lyles got from Kenny Bednarek after winning the 200 at United States national championships two weeks ago.

“Can I ask a question?” Duplantis said at the end of a multi-athlete news conference in Poland — alongside Lyles but not Bednarek — on the eve of the sprinters renewing their rivalry in the 100 on the Diamond League circuit.

“I want to ask Noah about, like, that stare down and that push,” Duplantis said, smiling and looking right along the line to Lyles, “because that (expletive) was kinda crazy game.”

Lyles repeated the answer he gave Aug. 4 in Eugene, Oregon, after the post-race beef with long-time teammate Bednarek seemed to fuel a must-see track rivalry ahead of the world championships next month in Tokyo.

“As coach said: ‘No comment,’” Lyles replied, to laughter in the room.

Duplantis came back for more: “Fair enough, fair enough. I enjoyed it, though, I enjoyed it.”

Lyles was invited to ask his own question of Duplantis. He suggested not setting another world record Saturday so that he might win the ring awarded by meet organizers for the best performance.

“No comment, no comment,” the U.S.-born Swedish star quipped back, to more laughter.

Duplantis set his 13th world record Tuesday in Hungary, raising the bar to 6.29 meters. One year ago he cleared 6.26 in Poland to add a single centimeter to the record-setting mark that won Olympic gold in Paris last August.

On the track, the men’s 100 shapes as the main event Saturday, though Bednarek has since said he made up with Lyles in a long conversation.

It will be the first 100 between Lyles and Kishane Thompson since Paris, when the American took gold by five-thousands from the Jamaica as both were timed at 9.79 seconds.

Thompson starts Saturday as the fastest man in the world this year — 9.75 set in Kingston in June.

Bednarek is second on the season list at 9.79, clocked winning the U.S. national title that was skipped by Lyles, who has an automatic entry for Tokyo as the defending champion from 2023.

“You basically have the Olympic final maybe missing two people, adding in some just as fast people,” said Lyles, whose season best so far is 10 flat in London last month. “It’s going to be good, regardless.”

“Of course," he said, "having Kishane there makes it even better.”

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Armand Duplantis, of Sweden celebrates his victory and world record in the final of the men's pole vault at the 15th Gyulai Istvan Memorial Track and Field Hungarian Grand Prix in the National Athletics Center in Budapest, Hungary, Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025. (Tamas Vasvari/MTI via AP)

Noah Lyles and Kenny Bednarek shake hands after the men's 200-meter final at the U.S. Championships athletics meet in Eugene, Ore., Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Noah Lyles wins the men's 200-meter final at the U.S. Championships athletics meet in Eugene, Ore., Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Kenny Bednarek pushes Noah Lyles after the men's 200-meter finals during the U.S. Championships athletics meet in Eugene, Ore.,Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil.

The U.S. Coast Guard boarded the tanker, named Veronica, early Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media. The ship had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s "established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean,” she said.

U.S. Southern Command said Marines and sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to take part in the operation alongside a Coast Guard tactical team, which Noem said conducted the boarding as in previous raids. The military said the ship was seized “without incident.”

Several U.S. government social media accounts posted brief videos that appeared to show various parts of the ship’s capture. Black-and-white footage showed at least four helicopters approaching the ship before hovering over the deck while armed troops dropped down by rope. At least nine people could be seen on the deck of the ship.

The Veronica is the sixth sanctioned tanker seized by U.S. forces as part of the effort by Trump’s administration to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products and the fourth since the U.S. ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid almost two weeks ago.

The Veronica last transmitted its location on Jan. 3 as being at anchor off the coast of Aruba, just north of Venezuela’s main oil terminal. According to the data it transmitted at the time, it was partially filled with crude.

The ship is currently listed as flying the flag of Guyana and is considered part of the shadow fleet that moves cargoes of oil in violation of U.S. sanctions.

According to its registration data, the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, owned and managed by a company in Russia. In addition, a tanker with the same registration number previously sailed under the name Pegas and was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department for moving cargoes of illicit Russian oil.

As with prior posts about such raids, Noem and the military framed the seizure as part of an effort to enforce the law. Noem argued that the multiple captures show that “there is no outrunning or escaping American justice.”

Speaking to reporters at the White House later Thursday, Noem declined to say how many sanctioned oil tankers the U.S. is tracking or whether the government is keeping tabs on freighters beyond the Caribbean Sea.

“I can’t speak to the specifics of the operation, although we are watching the entire shadow fleet and how they’re moving,” she told reporters.

However, other officials in Trump's Republican administration have made clear that they see the actions as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry and restore its economy.

Trump met with executives from oil companies last week to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and distribution. His administration has said it expects to sell at least 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil.

This story has been corrected to show the Veronica is the fourth, not the third, tanker seized by U.S. forces since Maduro’s capture and the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, not the Galileo.

Associated Press writer Ben Finley contributed to this report.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference at Harry Reid International Airport, Nov. 22, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill, File)