Has Noah Lyles Achieved Elite Track Status After Competing in 60M Dash for 8 Years?

Noah Lyles has been in the spotlight because of his track achievements for a very long time. The star athlete’s popularity especially peaked after he clinched three back-to-back medals at the 2023 World Athletics Championship. Today, the 26-year-old introduced his fans to his indoor track achievements as well.

Noah Lyles delivered a stellar performance at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix event held in Boston on 4 February 2024. The 6x World Champ secured the first position in the 60m dash and secured a nail-biting win with a new personal best. But, while Lyles earned another gold medal in his eight-year senior career, has he done enough to be called an elite track star?

A short glance at the career of Noah Lyles

The beginning of the career of Lyles’ track career is one of the most celebrated success stories. While many collegiate athletes receive an offer to play after they prove themselves in the NCAA, Noah Lyles got recognized early on by Adidas. The three-stipes company didn’t make a mistake, as their newest athlete started showing his colors.

Ever since this moment in July 2016, Noah Lyles has never looked back. On several occasions, the 26-year-old has made it clear that those golden circles are all he eyes for. His setback at the Eugene Diamond League was the only silver medal Lyles won after his WAC relays silver in 2022.

While Noah Lyles has shined at world championships, the Diamond Leagues have also seen the 26-year-old excel every time. Interestingly, Noah Lyles only has gold medals from his Diamond League campaigns. Lastly, a triple gold at a World Championship is something very few sprinters have done.

In fact, this list includes the likes of the legendary Usain Bolt himself. Lyles is definitely on the way to finding a place among the elites of track and field. But, there are still a lot of milestones he needs to achieve. This also includes the Olympic Games which Noah Lyles is looking forward to.

The Olympic checkpoints building an icon

The Olympics have always held a significant importance for Noah Lyles. A small excerpt from an Olympics.com interview of Josephus Lyles saw him revealing the origin story of the Lyles brothers. Josephus mentioned that the two brothers were watching the 2012 Olympics when they decided only to turn pro when both of them got an offer. In his words, “We’d been debating it, and we agreed early on, it’s either both of us go pro or we both go to college. We’re not going to split…So this was a joint decision. It’s pretty amazing to have someone who’s always going to have your back.”

Noah Lyles’ Olympic dreams received a big motivation boost after winning the 200m gold at the 2014 Youth Olympics. However, he failed to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics. While this left him heartbroken, he strived harder to become the best. The third Olympic checkpoint arrived in Tokyo.

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Noah Lyles won the bronze medal on that occasion in the 200m dash. This prompted him to get a tattoo of the Olympic Rings just like every other Olympian, enhancing his ‘icon’ tattoo to read ‘Olympic Icon’. Now, the fourth Olympic checkpoint awaits him in Paris. Will this bring the next stage to the metamorphosis of the star toward an elite status?

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