“Disappointing to See”: Noah Lyles Complains About Starter After His Loss at Racers Grand Prix 2024

In recent months, the concept of being defeated by his opponents has become quite alien to Noah Lyles. Gaining momentum every day ahead of the Paris Olympics, the reigning world champ has been making waves on the track with several victories across various tournaments. However, with his latest loss to Jamaica’s Oblique Seville, Noah had a few things to say about what went down at the Jamaica National Stadium.

In a recent post on X by Jamaica Gleaner, Lyles’ frustration was captured after his second-place finish in the men’s 100m race last night. According to his words, while the race itself had nothing to complain about, the gunman’s actions could have been better.

“I was satisfied with the performance, but disappointed with the gunman…Half of us weren’t even set before the gun went off…that’s very disappointing to see,” grumbled the American sensation. However, despite the initial cacophony, Lyles managed to turn things around once he was off the starting point and had nothing bad to say about the race itself.

“The race was great. I came out here and ran exactly what I thought I was gonna run” said a satisfied-looking Lyles mentioning that any score below 9.88 seconds is acceptable to him. Considering the sturdy lineup that Noah still managed to edge past in the race despite not being ready when the gun went off, fans would be inclined to believe that the 26-year-old is yet to reach his fullest potential.

A small wobble, but nothing Noah Lyles can’t work around

The lineup for the Racer’s Grand Prix men’s 100m event was stacked. From his own brother Josephus to the 200m world-leading Brit sprinter Zharnel Hughes, Noah had to overcome a lot of adversities in Kingston last night. However, while fans would clamor that Noah’s victory was snatched away from him, Noah did manage to subdue the threat posed by Hughes by a long shot. Hughes finished the race in fifth place, while Josephus came in sixth.

However, this small setback shouldn’t be a major point of concern for Lyles’ fans anyway. Over the past few months, the sprinter has been at the top of his game. In Budapest last year at the World Championships, Lyles claimed his personal best in the 100m race (9.83 seconds) and has been excelling every time he’s stepped onto the track since then as well. At last month’s Atlanta City Games, Noah claimed he had his best training of life so far, before showing Zharnel his place by defeating him in the 150m sprint.

Moreover, Noah also claimed that he doesn’t see anyone as his true rival in the 200m race and even joked that Kenny Bednarek’s world lead of 19.67 seconds will remain relevant till they meet each other for a race. While Lyles reels from his latest loss, it remains to be seen if the Olympic Team Trials in the second half of the month bring out the best in him once again to secure his ticket to the French capital later this year.