“The higher they fly, the harder they fall.” – No one feels this in their bones more than 100m Olympic Champion Noah Lyles. Often known as ‘brash’ or ‘direct,’ the sprinter has always been open about his goals and ambitions. It’s never only been about racing for the 27-year-old. He wants to leave a legacy behind. Leading up to the Paris Olympics, he consistently raised the bar high with every performance. However, the sprinter has always been handed the short end of the stick.

After tirelessly dealing with a slew of backlash, the sprinter shared his thoughts on the situation. Fashionable as ever, the 27-year-old addresses the hate in a conversation with Mixed Feelings. “I’m definitely in my anti-hero arc,” he stated. Does this mean the sprinter will continue being unabashedly himself? He exclaimed, “I feel like there’s a lot of good that I’ve done, and there’s a lot of good that people see.” But not everything is black and white.

Noah Lyles continued, “But at the same time, there’s a lot of people who just want to either villainize me or blame me. To be honest, it comes with the territory.” There have been times when their words might have stung, but he has a different take on it. “The higher you go, the more your underwear shows, my mom says. So the higher up you go, the more vulnerable you are to making people judgements of you.” This has proven to be true in his case.

The sprinter addressed one such instance in episode 5 of Netflix’s SPRINT. Leading up to the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, he posted an image of what he hoped to achieve at the meet on Instagram. While this isn’t unusual, fans couldn’t help but gawk at the numbers he wanted to hit. However, there is always a flipside to this. “I will say this, anybody who’s met me has always said, ‘Wow, that’s the guy with a lot of confidence and a lot of inspiration.'” During the 2024 Paris Olympics, the 27-year-old saw both sides of the coin.

Noah Lyles’ tumultuous stint at the French Capital

The sprinter raised the bar high leading up to the Paris Olympics. But all that almost slipped through his hands during the 100m finals on August 4. A slow start nearly kept him off the podium. Instead, he pushed himself, giving the world a fantastic photo finish. Post his blistering victory in 9.79 seconds, the Olympian shared an important message on X. “I will tell you that what you have does not define what you can become. Why Not You?” Quite an inspiring statement by the 100m Olympic Champion.

But fans weren’t impressed by Noah Lyles holding the title of the “fastest” man alive. The 27-year-old eventually addressed this on YouTube. Why does he address himself as that? The title was bestowed to the sprinter after he won the 100m dash at the 2023 World Athletics Champions in Budapest. Seeing how no one has claimed that title yet, he still gets to hold on to it. Even though this isn’t the first time the sprinter has clapped back, it’s safe to say we might continue to witness this unfiltered side of him. What do you think about his honest take?