Noah Lyles: The Olympic champion with attention set on Usain Bolt's records

Noah Lyles took home the men's 100m sprint gold medal in dramatic fashion in a personal best time of 9.79. The reigning world champion is desperate to do the double and take home the 200m gold as well, with his ultimate goal of breaking Usain Bolt's 19.19 200m set in 2009, but can he do it?

Lyles seemed to struggle through the heats and semi-final in the 100m but pulled out his best performance in the final, launching a remarkable comeback late in the race to take gold.

Lyles dominated in the 200m event at the US Olympic trials, running a 19.53 per Athletics Weekly.

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Following a then-personal best 100m of 9.81 at a pre-Olympic Diamond League meet, Lyles told reporters after his race, “I could have had a better start, but the transitions were great and coming away with a PB, this has been what I prayed for and what I wanted,” suggesting there is more to come from the American.

Lyles was adamant he will win the Olympic gold, telling reporters, “I'm going to win. That's what I always do,” per ESPN, and he backed up his talk with an incredible performance.

Despite his confidence, Lyles’ PB time in London was only the third-fastest time this year, with Kishane Thompson (Jamaica) and Ferdinand Omanyala (Kenya) running 9.77 and 9.79 respectively, per World Athletics. Lyles' struggles during the competition had many thinking Thompson was the man to beat.

Lyles' victory over Thompson proved to be the Jamaican's first loss of 2024, per LetsRun, with Lyles overcoming some incredible form from the 23-year-old.

It was never likely for Lyles to beat Usain Bolt's 100m world record in Paris, with the American's gold medal win still .21 of a second off Bolt's incredible time. The 200m is a different story, with Lyles’ personal best of 19.31 being the fourth-fastest time ever, and only .12 of a second off Bolt’s world record.

Despite a playful personality and incredible skill and talent on the track, Lyles has found himself in the midst of controversy in the past, having angered American basketball fans. Lyles questioned the legitimacy of NBA teams calling themselves “world champions”, asking, “World champion of what? The United States?” per The Hilltop.

Lyles’ comments drew ire from NBA players, with Kevin Durant writing, “Somebody help this brother,” on X (formerly Twitter) and Draymond Green commenting, “When being smart goes wrong”. Perhaps Lyles, who has six world championships to his name, can win over some fans by completing the Bolt-sweep of sprinting events, 100m, 200m, 4x100m, at Paris, maybe even breaking a world record along the way. 

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