The USA-Jamaica rivalry added another thrilling chapter in Paris. Noah Lyles and Kishane Thompson were involved in a heart-stopping photo finish in the men’s 100m as both crossed the line with identical times of 9.79 seconds. Eventually, Lyles prevailed by a mere five-thousandths of a second. Lyles who has had a love-hate relationship with the Jamaican fans once again proved to be a thorn in their side. Tide, the trusted detergent brand by P&G, has partnered with EssentiallySports to bring you an exclusive interview with Noah Lyles. In this candid conversation, Lyles delves into the challenges and rewards of his rivalry with Jamaica.

Lyles has been dating Jamaican athlete Junelle Bromfield since 2022, adding more spice to his relationship with the Jamaican fans. Bromfield has faced criticism from people in her country for supporting Lyles and even came under fire when she celebrated his 100m win in Paris.

Speaking exclusively to EssentiallySports, Lyles addressed whether the USA-Jamaica rivalry has impacted his relationship with Bromfield. He said, “Yes, this has definitely been the most testing year of our relationship when it comes to our nationalities. Yeah, Jamaica doesn’t care for the US.”

Bromfield received fierce backlash after Lyles revealed that he has been receiving information about what goes on in the Jamaican MVP Track Club through his girlfriend for quite some time. In the July interview with Track World News, he also mentioned he knew about Kishane Thompson’s struggle with injuries through Bromfield. This obviously didn’t sit well with a lot of Jamaicans.

On the contrary, there have been moments when Lyles has received support from the rival camp’s fans due to his association with Bromfield. Lyles himself has talked about how he is treated like a “rock star” in the country, during a press conference at the Jamaica Pegasus in May. But that changes when he is up against someone from their country.

“Jamaica will cheer for me as long as they don’t have a dog in the fight. Unfortunately, they went from not having a dog in the fight last year to having a great dog in the fight this year. So they went from loving me to hating me very quickly.”

His comments do hold a degree of truth. Last year at the World Championships, only Andrew Hudson made it to the 200m final from Jamaica and finished in the 8th spot. The race saw Lyles come out on top with a time of 19.52 and there was little to no animosity against him from Jamaicans. But things changed coming into Paris.

Kishane Thompson emerged as a viable threat to Lyles and for the gold medal. During his country’s trials, Thompson ran the 100m in 9.77, making him the fastest man of the year. Jamaica had a strong contender to challenge Lyles in Paris and they backed him to the fullest. But there is more to the story.

Thompson registered an impressive time of 9.82 during the first round of the trials. This was better than what Lyles achieved during the final of the US trials. When Lyles was asked about this he replied, “Alright nice…Let’s hope he stays healthy,” making a subtle reference to Thompson’s injury record. Then in an interview in July with AFP, Lyles seemingly dismissed Thompson as a threat.

“I beat everyone that I touch. 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?” These comments didn’t do much to endear Lyles to the Jamaican fans.

Lyles’ victory in Paris quickly gave way to controversy. Jamaican fans, outraged and vocal, flooded social media with claims that Thompson had been “robbed” of his rightful gold medal. The drama intensified when Thompson himself made a bold statement after his silver medal win.

When asked if a gold medal should be shared in the event of identical timings, Thompson’s frustration was evident as he replied, “No disrespect to other sports, but I think our sport is too competitive for a medal to be shared.”

However, Lyles also told us that not all people were dismissive towards him. In the Essentially Sports exclusive, Lyles mentioned, “Some people in the country being very critical, but also some people being very supportive.”

Thus, it is quite evident that Noah Lyles has an on-again off-again dynamic with the Jamaican audience. But he did make matters worse when he picked up a fight with Oblique Seville before Paris Olympics.

Noah Lyles gets an Usain Bolt-like look over from Oblique Seville

Competing at the Racers Grand Prix in June, Oblique Seville stunned the world as he took the gold. Beating Noah Lyles, Seville registered the then 2024 world lead by clocking 9.82s. However, for Seville the in was not only special because he beat the tournament favorite Noah Lyles, but because of the manner in which he did so. 

Approaching the finishing line, Oblique Seville took a moment and gave a look over to Noah Lyles to ascertain his dominance over the latter. This was reminiscent of how Usain Bolt would do the same during his iconic Olympic sprints. Enraged at the gesture, Noah Lyles took to his X account and wrote, “Oh yah… I’ll remember this! See you in Paris @ObliqueSeville.”

Surely, Noah Lyles was able to give it back to Oblique Seville by repeating the same gesture and beating him to win the gold medal in Paris. Lyles has brought attention to the track and field world by performing to his best and riling up his rivals from time to time. He walked the talk in Paris and you can expect him to do more of the same in the future.