Noah Lyles
After Usain Bolt’s retirement from the track and field scene in 2017, it left quite the noticeable void in excitement over men’s sprinting. But now, the arrival of sensational U.S. athlete Noah Lyles has revived that fervor in the scene. Namely dubbed the second coming of Usain Bolt, Noah Lyles has a fascinating history and uprising as a sprinting star that Evans digs into with this article.
Who is Noah Lyles?
Noah Lyles was born on July 18, 1997, and raised alongside his brother Josephus Lyles in Gainesville, Florida. Lyles was originally into gymnastics until he switched to track and field at 12 years old. Despite his young age, Lyles showed great talent at the sport, as he’d won the 200m gold medal at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China. In 2016, Lyles and his brother decided to forgo college to become professional athletes. In that time, Lyles signed to the colossal name-brand Adidas. From there on forward, Lyles began to dominate the track and field scene by winning the bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, six gold medals in the World Athletics Championship (three in the 200m, one in the 100m, and two in the 4x100m relay), and multiple gold medals across the Diamond League and the U.S. National Championship.
Breaking the World Record?
With the 2024 Paris Olympics on the horizon, Noah Lyles is looking to earn his first Olympic gold medals there. Furthermore, Noah has made his goals public: he wants to break the longstanding 200m world record set by Usain Bolt in 2009 with a time of 19.19 seconds. Lyles plans to do this by setting a goal of running 19.10 seconds 200m. In an interview with CNN Sports, he stated that he has been training very hard, especially working on his 60m in order to improve his 100m and 200m speed. Additionally, he has stated that he is making great progression and is confident to showcase what he has in store.
Importance of Mental Health
Despite being a fantastic track star, Noah Lyles is also very deeply expressive about mental health problems that many athletes struggle with. He has admitted to seeing therapists since he was a kid. He also admitted to taking antidepressants on Twitter. During a post-race interview where Lyles earned the bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, he started to open up about his mental health. Lyles reminisced how he broke down crying right before flying to Tokyo for the Olympics. He remembered talking to his girlfriend and discussing how hard it was for him to get through the year.
Moreover, he discussed his younger brother Josephus and how they made a plan together to run at 2016 Rio Olympic Games, where tragically they weren’t able to as Josephus got injured and Noah narrowly missed making the U.S. team. He recapped that the sport has been tough on his brother and himself. Regardless, Noah wanted to push the importance of mental health awareness and the notion that it is okay to not be okay, but it isn’t okay to suffer by yourself without reaching out to someone.
Conclusion
Noah Lyles is undoubtedly an amazing athlete that has caused a resurgence in excitement surrounding the track and field scene. On top of this, Lyles represents a model athlete who is vocal about mental health awareness, a topic heavily stigmatized across the sports world. With Lyles’s ambition of breaking the 200m world record, the 2024 Paris Olympics look to be an exciting and ever-so-near event to watch. So keep your eyes on Lyles and best of luck to him in the upcoming Olympics!
Sources:
https://talksport.com/sport/1818451/noah-lyles-usain-bolt-united-states-nba/
https://olympics.com/en/news/noah-lyles-everything-you-need-to-know-about-track-star
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/21/sport/noah-lyles-paris-olympics-sprinting-spt-intl/index.html
https://fanarch.com/blogs/olympics/has-noah-lyles-won-an-olympic-medal