Noah Lyles is a polarizing figure for sure. There is no neutral when it comes to the gold medalist. Either fans love him or they hate him. And as if to continue the trend, Lyles has kickstarted his 2025 season by riling up the fans. What happened, you ask? Well, Lyles has been out for action since the Olympics. After winning the gold in 100m, the sprinter announced to the world that he had COVID-19. But while Lyles was successful in securing a bronze in the 200m, he had to take a long break for recovery.

And that break came to an end when he participated at the RADD Invitational in Gainesville, Florida. Taking center stage in the 60m category, Lyles emerged victorious with a timing of 6.62 seconds. But while this is not by any means bad timing, when you are the Olympic champ, the expectations are high. And it did not help his case that rival Kishane Thompson registered a better time in the same format.

Competing on January 18, 2025, Thompson completed an identical 60-meter dash in 6.48s. This was significantly faster than Lyles’ timing. A gap of 0.12s, to be precise. And this is where the backlash from the fans began. Immediately they considered Kishane Thompson and started to say that Lyles was a lucky winner in Paris. And while the Olympic champion is getting significantly criticized for his slow timing, US track and field legend Justin Gatlin has a completely contrasting take on the matter. 

Speaking on the Ready Set Go podcast, Justin Gatlin was asked about whether the timing of Noah Lyles was of concern. Gatlin had a straightforward answer, stating that it was not much of an issue. “Well, I’m not too concerned about Noah indoors, because even last year, I think he opened up even slower, right, than he did this season,” said Gatlin. He further added, “But one thing you do see from Noah is the fact that he’s still working on his race pattern. At that 20-meter mark, like you said, it’s the Noah show.”

While analyzing Lyles’ strategy, Gatlin opined that the Olympic gold medalist is trying to work on his start. With Lyles aiming to continue his dominance at the World Championships, one of the vital points that he needs to improve is to get faster off the blocks. And the 60-meter dashes are the perfect breeding ground for Lyles to practice the same.

Thus, as per Gatlin, “So, I think he’s using the 60 meters to be able to work on getting into the race quicker and commanding the race early, and that’s going to help him have a solid strategy for being a bona fide 100-meter runner, right? You know, in a 100-meter race, especially going into this season, you can’t run everybody down all the time.” Meanwhile, this is not the first time that Noah Lyles has been facing criticism for his seemingly sluggish timing. 

Noah Lyles faced criticisms ahead of the Paris Olympics 

2024 was one of the most important years for Noah Lyles. Creating significant hype, the US sprint star vowed to bring back the Olympic gold to America. Unfortunately, the build-up to the grand event was not in his favor. And race by race, he was losing the fans’s trust. He was constantly getting battered by his Jamaican counterparts. For most of the time, Lyles did not even have the world lead for 2024. 

Making things more complicated for Lyles, he was humbled by Oblique Seville in Jamaica. What’s more, Seville even gave him a Usain Bolt-like stare to add more salt to his injury. But all of these did not seem to bother Noah Lyles. He continued to press with his claims of coming out of Paris as the champion. 

While very few believed him, Noah Lyles was in his element on the D-day. Right from the moment he walked out, Lyles hyped up the crowd and looked confident. And when the gun fired, it was history in the making. Lyles ran a blitzkrieg of 9.79s, tying with Kishane Thompson. But a photo finish verdict awarded Noah Lyles the gold medal.

Thus, with history repeating itself once more, it remains to be seen whether Noah Lyles can replicate his stupendous showing from Paris once again despite the poor run initially.