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Noah Lyles will look to banish his Tokyo demons when he takes to the Olympic track in Paris in his continuing bid to fill the void left by Usain Bolt.
Lyles took a major step towards that dream by winning treble gold (100, 200 and 4x100m relay) at last year’s world championships in Budapest.
It led to World Athletics president Sebastian Coe dubbing Lyles, whose contract renewal with Adidas this season was described as the biggest since Bolt’s with Puma, an “absolute rock star”.
Dread-locked rapper more than rock star, the 27-year-old American’s efforts in the Hungarian capital were captured in Netflix’s docuseries entitled “Sprint”.
It firmly shone the spotlight on the self-assured Lyles, who looks more than ready to bring track back into the wider public consciousness and whose brashness was clear for all to hear in a litany of quotable soundbites.
“You have to have the mindset of a god,” Lyles said of being a top sprinter in “Sprint”.
“I’m a true believer in that the moment isn’t bigger than me, the moment was made for me.”
While many pundits insist that such an outlook is hardly rare for elite athletes, there is no doubt his brazen approach rubs many other people up the wrong way, not least legions of NBA basketball players – and their fans – after Lyles had questioned their claim to be real “world champions”.
Either way, the cameras will again be on Lyles in Paris as he seeks to improve on his Tokyo Games showing, where he came away with a bronze in the 200m.
“That bronze still burns a hole in my chest,” Lyles said last weekend after winning the 100m in a personal best of 9.81 seconds into a slight headwind at the London Diamond League.
“I will be carrying it around during Paris just to remind me that this is not the colour we are coming back with.”
His victory in London, however, left Lyles in buoyant mood, and in no fear of Jamaican Kishane Thompson, the fastest man of the year after his 9.77sec in Kingston last month.
“I beat everyone that I touch,” he said. “I don’t see why the Jamaicans are any different. This is what I pray for, this is what I live for and I back myself up, don’t I?”
Lyles, who suffered from chronic asthma as a child, added: “I know exactly where I am ahead of Paris. – SuperSport.
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter