Noah Lyles has dominated the track for quite some time now. But the 6-time World Champion has had to cross several hurdles before he got here. Lyles first brushed shoulders with the sport back at T.C. Williams High School and since then, the Olympian has been vying for the coveted gold. He turned heads with his stellar performances at Hayward Field, effortlessly punching his ticket to Paris. While Lyles is looking forward to redeeming himself and breaking records, he wishes his High School Sprint Coach Rashawn Jackson was here to watch it happen.

Lyles recalled how Jackson had always been one of Lyles’ biggest cheerleaders at T.C. Williams. Jackson had played a huge part in molding the 2020 Olympic bronze medalist in his early years. After walking away victorious from the trials, Noah Lyles posted a bittersweet message for Jackson on Twitter.

Noah Lyles’ heartwarming tribute to his biggest cheerleader

Earlier today, Noah Lyles took to Twitter to let the late Rashawn Jackson know about his incredible feat. He captioned it, “Hey coach, We did it. We reached the top! I always thought that you would be here to see when I reached the peak though. I guess you will have to know you are watching from heaven. I’m so glad our paths crossed because idk who I would be if they didn’t. I Love you man RIP” His bittersweet messages were accompanied with a few pictures of the athlete and his coach.

Lyles has previously stated how Jackson always had his best interests in mind, and knew when he needed to take a break. Lyles further gave Jackson credit for who he is today. One of his’ earliest wins was credited to Jackson back in 2015. As a junior at T.C. Williams High School, Lyles ran 200m in 20.83 seconds setting a new meet and national junior record. The young athlete then went on to clinch a gold in the 200m dash and silver in the 100m dash at the Pan American Junior Championships in Edmonton.

He credited his head coach Mike Hughes and sprint coach Rashawn Jackson for these incredible feats, “I thought I could do it. But this is a team sport and people don’t realize but you can’t achieve anything without the full team, behind you. Our coach at T.C. is really good and gets up just right for the big track meets.” Both Hughes and Rashawn were looked at as a part of the team, and Lyles was grateful to their continued efforts to push the team despite not being the favorites to win the state meet.

While training during the warm weather wasn’t all too hard, Lyles and the team would always find it difficult to practice during the cold. So Jackson came up with another way to help the team. He had them lay out rubber matting in the high school’s corridor to replicate a track for them to train on. Lyles has also credited his late coach for teaching him most of the things like preparing days in advance for track meets, being on time, learning how to travel and more in high school itself.

His sprint to the French Capital

Noah Lyles has punched his ticket to Paris and is set to compete at the 100m, 200m and potentially 4x100m men’s relay at this year’s Summer Games. On Friday, he blazed past his competitors in the 200m event breaking a long standing 28-year-old record in the process. His time of 19.53 seconds clinched him a gold along with a world lead time at Hayward Field.

He did just as well earlier that week in the 100m event. He clocked in the fastest time in the round with 9.80 seconds in heats. Yet another stellar performance in the semifinals, he clocked in 9.92 second setting the best time on the field. He finally advanced to the finals and clinched an easy win with a time of 9.83 seconds. With this, Lyles secured a spot on his second Olympic run.

He will now be preparing to face the world’s best on the world’s biggest stage, but he isn’t too worried about that. With just 25 days to go for the 2024 Paris Olympics, while fans will be watching the athlete put his best step forward, Noah Lyles will only have one name on his mind: Rashawn Jackson. May his soul rest in peace!