Noah Lyles wants to fill the vacuum Usain Bolt left
After winning eight Olympic gold medals from 2008 to 2016, Usain Bolt’s retirement in 2017 left a noticeable vacuum in men’s sprinting.
No one has yet come close to matching his achievements, but it looks like there is finally an heir apparent on the horizon — Noah Lyles.
The sprinting sensation is the favourite for the men’s 100 metres and 200m races at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and with a strong American team alongside him, could also clinch gold in the 4x100m.
The last time a male athlete won all three of these events at the Olympics was Bolt in 2016, making clear just why there is so much excitement surrounding 26-year-old Lyles.
Becoming the fastest man in the world
Born in Florida in 1997, Lyles switched from gymnastics to track and field when he was 12 years old. Despite his young age, it quickly became clear he had immense sprinting talent, and the teenager went on to win a 200m gold medal at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing.
In 2016, Lyles and his younger brother Josephus decided to forgo college to become professional athletes. He just missed out on selection for the US team heading to the Olympic Games in Rio, but now, 10 years on from winning a gold medal at the Youth Olympic Games, Lyles is aiming to imitate Bolt in Paris.
It won’t be the first time Lyles competes at the Olympic Games. He raced at Tokyo 2020, and after earning 200m and 4x100m world titles for the first time in 2019, was considered a favourite for gold in the Japanese capital. But he was unable to make his mark, settling for a bronze medal in the 200m.
Lyles has raised his game since then. He clinched another 200m world title in 2022, before sweeping the 100m, 200m and 4x100m at the 2023 World Athletics Championships to rightly earn the title of the fastest man in the world right now.
His best time across 200m is 19.31 seconds, surpassing the previous American record of 19.32 — set by Michael Johnson in 1996. The time makes Lyles the fastest 200m runner in history, behind only Bolt and Yohan Blake.
Lyles often appears to wear the red, white and blue of the Star-Spangled Banner with pride, but he revealed to Fox News that he often has mixed feelings about representing his home.
"It’s a bittersweet moment,” he explained. “I’m American, and I truly believe that we are the best in the world, especially when it comes to sports. We have been proving that dominance. And it feels good to add on to that collection that the US is the best.
"But at the same time, it’s with a heavy heart, because being black in America, there’s a lot to deal with. I’m not going to go into everything, but it’s not easy. It’s hard to love a country that sometimes doesn’t love you back.
"At the same time, you always want to put your best foot forward. So, it’s a little contradicting, it's with a heavy heart, but it still makes you feel extremely proud because you are an American."
Lyles also annoyed a number of his country’s basketball stars last year after hitting out at the tendency to describe the winners of the NBA Finals as world champions.
He made the comments during a press conference after his third gold medal at the 2023 World Athletics Championships, having been asked about the state of track and field as a sport.
“You know what hurts me the most is that I have to watch the NBA Finals and they have ‘world champion’ on their head,” Lyles said.
“World champion of what? The United States? Don’t get me wrong. I love the US — at times — but that ain’t the world. That is not the world. We are the world.
“We have almost every country out here fighting, thriving, putting on their flag to show that they are represented. There ain’t no flags in the NBA. We gotta do more. We gotta be presented to the world.”
Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant, who earned an Olympic gold medal in the men’s basketball tournament at Tokyo 2020, was among the NBA players to respond, posting on social media: “Somebody help this brother.”
While he may have riled up some of his compatriots, they certainly won’t mind if he returns to the US this summer with three Olympic gold medals around his neck.
But Lyles is not just aiming to make a mark on the track. Self-described as an artist and rapper, he is also passionate about music, fashion and video games. Lyles has previously spoken about his desire to revolutionise athletics through his other interests.
“I want to show people how far they can go,” he told Olympics.com. “I don’t want them to stop at medals. Yes, medals are nice, they get your attention. That should be the first stopping point, that should be the first check off the box.
“After you go to medals, now you go to moving outside of the sport. After you’re outside of the sport, we go and reinvent ourselves.”
