The last time Noah Lyles went to Jamaica, things didn’t really go his way. On June 1 last year, he competed in the men’s 100m event in the Racers Grand Prix. Naturally, he had been the favorite to win the title. But Oblique Seville handed him disappointment. Now, cut to March 2025. Another Jamaican track and field event has made things difficult for him. And this time, he wasn’t even a participant. 

On March 5, Noah shared his views on the upcoming track contest Grand Slam Track in his podcast, Beyond The Records. In the podcast, Noah was full of words regarding GST’s structure and the key changes it needs. He also talked about the ISSA Grace Kennedy Boys and Girls Championships (widely known as Champs in Jamaica) scheduled to take place from March 25-29. And that’s how the Jamaican connection hurt him again. 

After the airing of the podcast, several criticized Noah for spreading misinformation about Champs. Fortunately, this discussion wasn’t missed by the Olympian. He realized his mistake and shared a video message through the X-handle of Beyond The Records Podcast. Released on March 6, the video message held Noah saying, “Today we released a video where we talked about Grand Slam and Boys and Girls Championship in Jamaica and unfortunately I did make a comment that provided misinformation. I said that Boys and Girls Champs was free to attend and thankfully the community informed me that is not the case.” Lyles had to change the version promptly.

The note included, “I’m sorry that I spread this misinformation. It was never my job to mislead.” “It’s just I didn’t fact-check enough and I’m trying to, you know, grow from this moment,” added the six-time World Champion. While fans will be able to enter the bleachers for free on the opening day, grandstand entry on the day will still cost them $1000. From then on ticket prices will only rise. In fact, on March 29, a seat in the bleachers will be $2500, while a grandstand view will come for no less than $7500. Pretty far cry from free, right? Meanwhile, Lyles also had a few things to say about GST, which, if nothing else, could be food for thought. 

In the podcast, Noah said, “You know what I actually think they should do? I think they should hold up one more year.” So, Lyles suggested delaying the contest for a year. However, the GST authority has already announced the key information regarding the dates and venues of the events. The Olympian also thinks that GST could do with some investment in infrastructure. “I think they should build one stadium in the U.S. in one central city,” added Lyles. According to him, such an arrangement would help the event become a year-long one.

But if you think that’s all he had to say about the highly controversial track event, think again because there is more where those came from.

Noah Lyles still remains unfiltered on Grand Slam Track 

Granted, Lyles has mostly been skeptical of GST, throwing around questions and suggestions. However, he thinks the event has one thing working in its favor, and that has to do with its ownership model. 

In the latest episode of Beyond The Records, Noah found it tough to mix GST and Diamond League. Explaining his thoughts on that, the Olympian said, “Grand Slam is under one umbrella—it’s all owned by Grand Slam; it’s a business model. The Diamond Leagues are all individual meets; they have their own meet directors and so on.” That is why he thinks marketing and advertisement campaigns for GST could be carried out much more easily. “You can’t really do that as efficiently with the Diamond Leagues as it stands right now, in my opinion, which is why I do like having a league that is all under one umbrella,” he added. That being said, Lyles himself has chosen to stay away from GST. 

The Olympic champion finds the scheduling to be odd and the overlapping titles to be confusing. To him, it’s just “track and field with extra steps.” As for Johnson, he isn’t losing any sleep over Noah Lyles not joining the event. While talking to Radio Row in New Orleans with TalkSPORT, Johnson said, “We don’t need anyone else. We will take all of the fastest people, but we don’t have to have them. Ultimately, we will get everyone. This is year one; this is where you want to be if you’re a premier track and field athlete.” Can you spot the dig for the world’s fastest man in the words?