Comments like “Where’s Bolt? He standing behind Noah?” could never go well with the six-time world champion. The debate started with Team USA’s gymnast Joscelyn Roberson’s tweet, calling Noah Lyles “the fastest man alive” on July 23. Since then, social media felt flooded with posts criticizing the sprinter. The track fans hounded him for not correcting the gymnast, as he is not as fast as Usain Bolt is. However, Noah is in Paris now, concentrating on his national duty at the Olympics. Still, the fiasco embroiled him, and the 27-year-old had his answer ready to douse fires before such a tremendous occasion. 

Yesterday, (July 26), on his YouTube handle, Noah posted a detailed clarification on his acceptance of the title, World’s fastest man alive. He stated that the title came with his 100m victory at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest last year. He is holding that title now, and no one has replaced him yet in that slot. And he will continue to wear it until his defeat on the same platform. But that doesn’t mean that he would belittle Usain Bolt’s stature. From this perspective, Noah Lyles added, “We do not intend to disrespect or discredit past records or times set in the new season.” In the same post, Noah spoke about Sha’Carri Richardson as well. 

Just like him, Sha’Carri won the 100m world title in Budapest in the women’s category. Therefore, the logic that makes Noah the world’s fastest man tag is likewise applicable to the 24-year-old sprinter with the tag of the world’s fastest in her category. And it is according to the rule book of World Athletics and it does not contain any theatrics from the sprinters. Notably, in this season, World Athletics has yet to announce any global championship. 

The presence of the Olympics in the calendar could be a reason. The quadrennial sporting occasion has almost all the track events that a World Championship presents to the fans. Additionally, because of its legacy and status, the Olympic Games attract a lot more names to the participants’ list. So in that case, could the 100m Olympic champion be termed as the world’s fastest man alive? Noah Lyles left this question hanging in the air. This gathers room for another debate. 

Noah Lyles leaves a lot more loose ends this time

Noah Lyles wants to win all the Olympic medals. His repeated admission of his mindset injected a lot more into discussion. Furthermore, while expressing his ambition, the Olympian several times called himself the fastest man alive. However, as per his latest argument, the rules of World Athletics make him carry that crown. But the authority has been keeping mum on this after the Budapest Worlds. Moreover, his timing from the global championship (9.83 seconds) is still short compared to the world-leading timing this season (9.77 seconds). That creates a long gap between reality and Noah’s statement. 

This season, the track world witnessed Noah Lyles in several 100m races. However, among those, his timing from the London Diamond League (9.81 seconds) stands to be his season-best. Even that shot on the clock proves to be better than his timing in Budapest last year. As the comparison shows, the clocking has a 0.04-second gap with the world-leading one this season. That could invite a lot more debate. However, Noah Lyles has the Paris Olympics to announce his best comeback and shut down the vicious comments about him. Let’s keep an eye on Paris for a better result.