Noah Lyles is here, and he comes bearing a word of caution for his track contemporaries! In his opening appearance at Hayward Field for the US Olympic Trials, the track star stunned his rivals by clocking a 9.92-second spectacle in the 100m heat. With that, he not only advanced to the semi-final round but exerted his dominance as the defending 100m world champion.

However, it seems that the 26-year-old phenom was just getting warmed up. Ahead of his second day at the decisive trials, he has issued a warning for the contenders, whilst building the hype for his family and fans. His advice: keep your eyes on the track for some lightning action!

Noah Lyles’ confident invite ahead of key performances

Date, time, venue, and occasion- he has mentioned it all! Taking to YouTube recently, Noah Lyles, the Olympian has added a post, which exudes his confidence ahead of the upcoming 100m sprints. With the title, “Day Two: Men’s 100m Semi and Finals,” Lyles goes on to mention his agenda for these events. Referring to the first heat, he boasts, “Yesterday was just the warm up, America.” 

A confident Lyles further assures, ” Today I show you what years of hard work and dedication can achieve 💪, and that I’m more than just a 200m runner.” His words seemed self-acclamatory so far. However, they swiftly transitioned into an invitation or rather, a mellow warning. He added, “To my family, friends, fans, and foes: keep your eyes peeled later because if you blink, you might miss greatness ✌️” 

After calling out for everyone to keep their eyes on him, he specified the event date and time, adding, “Semi-Final: 8:48 PM EST 🕣 Final: 10:49 PM EST 🕙” Moreover, Lyles even invited his fans for virtual interactions with him. He said that for the whole day, he would be responding to comments that have the hashtag, “Push2Paris.” Evidently, the six-time world champion is hyping his army of loyalists for a Lyles-special in Eugene. But what does it mean for his rivals? Only time will tell.

Besides, Lyles also indicated that the first 100m sprint at the Trials felt nearly effortless to him. He attached three images below his post. While two of them were shots of him running clad in a white tracksuit, the third one replicated a chat. It showed Lyles being asked, “How are you feeling after round one?” to which he responds, “Amazing! I feel like I didn’t event run” Now that’s a grandiose claim, and a dream for many.

The Olympic Trials seem to be bringing out the playful side of Lyles. With his subtle teases, he was having some fun while doing what he does the best on the track. Lets take a look at what has was up to previously.

Lyles and his Yu-Gi-Oh card show

Earlier at Hayward Field, Lyles had a few tricks up his sleeve. Particularly, as he flashed the Blue-Eyes White Dragon Anime card. Now you must be wondering, what is that? The Blue-Eyes White Dragon card belongs to the Yu-Gi-Oh trading game, the Japanese translation of which refers to ‘King of Games.’ Was this a hint that Noah Lyles dropped? Well, possibly. A similar inference can perhaps also be drawn from the description of the card. It reads, “This legendary dragon is a powerful engine of destruction. Virtually invincible, very few have faced this awesome creature and lived to tell the tale”. 

Apparently, Lyles card stunt was part of his hype strategy. For which reason, he also carried a briefcase with him. He said, “If you’re generating excitement and hype, it’s like what’s in the freaking briefcase….” However, of the many sights, his girlfriend Junelle Bromfield seemed to have particularly loved the one involving the card. While Lyles dropped a stunning video from his 100m sprint on his Instagram, Junelle took to the comment section in anticipation of the Seto Kaiba character reference. She wrote, “Waiting to see the rest of them card  🔥🙌”

And now as Noah Lyles has set the tone for the semifinals, it will be great to watch the fleet-footed athlete in action. Are you waiting to see him perform? Let us know below.