“I knew it was going to be an uphill fight, but that’s my whole life,” Noah Lyles said, reflecting on his challenging journey. The world’s premier sprinter has faced his share of controversies, from skipping Anthony Edwards’ Adidas shoe launch to the recent Paris Olympics struggles. Despite battling a COVID diagnosis before the 200m final and dealing with criticism, Lyles was overshadowed in the spotlight. 

As he witnessed the overwhelming welcome for Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo upon his return, Lyles couldn’t help but feel frustrated. The contrast between his reception and Tebogo’s triumphant homecoming has left him grappling with feelings of being unappreciated, even as he admires the joy brought to his rival’s homeland.

Noah Lyles reflected on the heroic welcome of Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo

In a recent conversation with Shannon Sharpe at the Nightcap on YouTube on 18th August 2024, Noah Lyles shared his frustration about not being welcomed like Letsile Tebogo. He said, “Do you feel knowing that when you go back to your own country, unlike these other countries that celebrate their athletes on such a humongous stage? When Tebogo won his gold medal, he returned to a stadium filled with 30,000 people celebrating him.” Looking lonely and overlooked, Noah Lyle is always experiencing despair and jealousy. He can’t take how his nation underrated him, but in the country of Tebogo, such things are quite different.

He continued, saying, “Yes, when I returned home on my flight, some people recognized me, and I’m very thankful for that. But there were no 30,000 people, no limo driver ready to take me home, and no bus waiting.” When Lyles receives the quiet notice, he wants to express his gratitude but feels only disappointment. Now that there is nobody to greet him with a grand, splendid reception, it seems all his hard work and victories have been for nothing. It was only his father and mother who drove him to his home. All this happened after the 200m final at the Paris Olympics, where Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo bagged the gold, leaving Bednarek and Noah behind. 

Finishing off in 19.46 seconds, he became the first African to win the 200-meter title at the Olympics. Therefore, he was welcomed by his countrymen to Botswana. There was a water salute when their flight touched down, and over 30,000 fans were there to celebrate the country’s win. President Mokgweetsi Masisi declared a half-day holiday for this achievement. All the athletes, along with Letsile, paraded on an open bus with that gold medal and showed their gratitude.

But, what was saddening for Noah was that Botswana fans were trolling him for leaving the track in a wheelchair after the race. As we all know he was diagnosed with COVID, which is why his health deteriorated after the race. So, the medical team suggested he take the wheelchair. However, one fan during that grand welcome of Letsile was seen mimicking Noah’s condition in a wheelchair. He was wearing a jersey with ‘Tebogo’ written on it, and others were cheering for the act. Though Noah did not directly say anything about the troll, he expressed his sadness about not getting that kind of welcome from the United States.

Noah Lyles on Adidas controversy ahead of the Paris Olympics

The American sprinting star Noah Lyles has finally opened up about the brewing rumor of not attending the Adidas controversy. There was a lot of speculation regarding this, and some even backlashed Noah for that. But, later, he removed the cloud of speculations by tweeting, “Them offering me to go to Ant’s shoe release had nothing to do with the contract. They just thought it would be cool that I would show up as one of their Adidas athletes. Unfortunately, they asked for it very late.”. He even said that, as he had already committed to an engagement in Milan for Hugo Boss, he failed to attend the Adidas one. 

But, later, he removed the cloud of speculations by tweeting, “Them offering me to go to Ant’s shoe release had nothing to do with the contract. They just thought it would be cool that I would show up as one of their Adidas athletes. Unfortunately, they asked for it very late.”. He even said that, as he had already committed to an engagement in Milan for Hugo Boss, he failed to attend the Adidas one. Lyles expressed that he was very angry at Adidas for giving Edwards a sneaker deal before offering one to him.

This rupture had come at a crucial point when Lyles was renegotiating his contract with the firm. “You want to do what?” he asked Adidas during his conversation with the reporter at the Times. His main problem was that he had been asking for his new shoes for a long time but did not get them. Instead, Adidas gave Edwards the golden sneaker. Reflecting on that, in the Nightcap podcast, Shannon Sharpe asked him about his current feelings. He explained, “I will say, being very vulnerable in this moment, I felt very unheard at that moment with adidas. I felt very unheard.” So, Noah has been experiencing this ignorance for some time. Therefore, his reaction towards not being welcomed in a grand way in his country is justified.