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Noah Lyles isn’t solely the face of athletics in america, however maybe the face of sports activities all over the world.
The 26-year-old has received three gold medals ultimately 12 months’s World Championships in Budapest, and is now gearing up for the 2024 Olympic Video games in Paris.
Lyles is the heavy favourite to win the 200 meters, and he’s a candidate to interrupt Usain Bolt’s world file of 19.19. He’ll compete in 4 occasions: the 100, 200, 4×100 and 4×400 meter races.
The US has dominated the latter for the reason that starting of the Olympics. They’ve received 18 of 25 gold medals within the occasion, together with eight of the final 10. Nonetheless, no American has received the 100 or 200 meters since 2004, and the US has not received the 4×100 relay since 2000. all eyes shall be on Lyles as he represents purple, white and blue.
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Noah Lyles celebrates after successful silver within the males’s 60m remaining throughout day one of many 2024 World Indoor Championships on the Emirates Enviornment in Glasgow, Scotland. (Sam Barnes/Sportfile by way of Getty Photos)
Nonetheless, Lyles says representing the nation is “contradictory.”
“It is a bittersweet second. I am American and I actually consider we’re one of the best on the planet, particularly in the case of sports activities. We have definitely confirmed that dominance. …And it feels good so as to add to that assortment that the USA is one of the best,” Lyles mentioned in a latest interview with Fox Information Digital.
“However on the similar time, it is a heavy coronary heart as a result of when you’re black in America, there’s quite a bit to cope with. I am not going to enter the whole lot, nevertheless it’s not straightforward. It is onerous to like the nation that generally does not. I do not love you anymore.
“On the similar time, you at all times need to put your finest foot ahead. So it is just a little contradictory, it is a heavy coronary heart, nevertheless it nonetheless makes you are feeling extraordinarily proud since you’re an American.”
Gold medalist Noah Lyles of Group United States reacts after successful the lads’s 100 meters remaining throughout day two of the World Observe and Discipline Championships in Budapest, Hungary, on August 25, 2023. (David Ramos/Getty Photos)
Lyles admitted that he has considered not competing within the sport due to his experiences, however “I really feel like I can do extra good by staying within the sport and nonetheless preventing that battle and getting my message out by being in sports activities.”
However as talked about earlier, the nation is relying on Lyles to strike gold and put the nation on his again. That might definitely be a high-pressure state of affairs for Lyles, nevertheless it is not.
That is as a result of he needs to be the face of the game.
Noah Lyles of america celebrates after successful the gold medal within the males’s 200 meters remaining on the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, on August 25, 2023. (AP Photograph/Matthias Schrader)
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“I really feel like loads of who I’m has been a model in pushing the game and pushing the needle,” he mentioned. “That is one thing I’ve at all times labored in the direction of. That is why I’ve media days the place I do off-field interviews, why I take most questions and do not reply with out ‘no remark’.”
“I would like to have the ability to give my voice and my ideas and see individuals watching the game and saying, ‘Wow, I like that man, I need to see extra of him, I need to see extra of this sport.’ I do not really feel any stress as a result of that is what I requested for.”
The Olympic Video games begin on July 24 and the observe occasions are held from August 1 to 11.
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