Last year, right around the World Championships, Noah Lyles sparked some playful intrigue with a tweet: “It’s time to take my wife (200m) on a date.” But if the 200m is his “wife,” then Lyles might have been caught in a bit of a scandal! Justin Gatlin and Rodney Green dove into the debate on their podcast Ready Set Go, analyzing Lyles’ future and the major crossroads he’s facing in track and field.

When discussing the next era of sprinting, it’s nearly impossible to ignore Lyles, especially as he sits at the heart of a dilemma: Should he continue to focus on the 100m or return to his beloved 200m? Gatlin painted the picture in light of Lyles’ recent victories in Paris. At the Olympics, Lyles took the gold in the 100m, edging out Kishane Thompson by a razor-thin margin—just 0.005 seconds.

Gatlin, while acknowledging the win, didn’t hold back in comparing the two sprinters: “Kishane, I think he has the best uptick right now. Leading up from the Jamaican trials through the Olympics, he looked like an unbeatable guy.” While Gatlin believes Thompson might be “ahead of the game” at the moment, he had some strong opinions about Lyles, too.

“If Noah goes back to his baby in the 200, it’s going to slack for his 100,” Gatlin remarked. And there’s some weight to that statement. Historically, the 200m has been Lyles’ playground, his “baby,” as Gatlin calls it. But in Paris, despite all the expectations and his confident stride, Lyles’ performance in the 200m wasn’t what many anticipated. While battling a COVID diagnosis, Lyles managed to take bronze in the race, clocking in at 19.70 seconds. Was it the virus, or perhaps the demands of excelling in both distances?

To understand the shock of this result, consider Lyles’ dominance in the 200m. He’s a three-time World Champion, and just a year before, at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, he clocked an impressive 19.52 seconds. But even that doesn’t compare to his legendary performance in 2022 when he shattered Michael Johnson’s long-standing record with a blistering 19.31. Fast forward to Paris, and what was supposed to be another romantic “date” with the 200m turned into more of a Shakespearean tragedy.

Now, with one foot in the 100m and the other in the 200m, Lyles finds himself at a crossroads. As Gatlin wisely puts it, “Not saying he won’t be a top competitor for the 100m at the World Championships, but most of his focus and energy will shift back to the 200.” The tension between the two events is real—both require peak performance, but the training demands are different, making it tough to dominate both.

Will Noah Lyles make his “Icon Status” come true?

Rodney Green started off saying, “If he stays the course and doesn’t talk about this 400 world record and stays away from that, I think Noah is more so about like chasing, chasing retired athletes.” Wait a minute, 400m? Yes, that’s right. Not so long ago, Lyles appeared on NightCap, hosted by Shannon Sharpe. There, he revealed an unconventional desire.

Lyles went on to say, “If I decide to move to the 400m truly and give it my 100% for multiple years – yeah, I’m going after the world record.” Both Gatlin and Green find the idea rather bonkers, even though the ambition is commendable.  But why? “The retired athletes would be the top five: Usain Bolt, you (Gatlin), Asafa (Powell). He’s looking to get the American record within the 100, and he’s looking to try to get the world record in the 200,” added Green.

Rodney Green’s assumptions and outlook do not seem far off from Lyles’ aspirations. Green went on to say that Lyles is not someone who is chasing the thrills of medals. Instead, he is on a quest for the “icon status.” A status that requires mastery over these sprint distances while not diluting his focus. Looking at the current rankings, Noah Lyles seems to be slacking in his favorite race.

While Noah Lyles holds the #1 position in 100m, he stands at #5 in the 200m races. In 2023, Noah was ranked #1 in 200m! It is up to Noah Lyles now to decide where he puts his training and attention. Will he fine-tune his 200m and come back to win his triple world crown? Or will it switch up and end up in a risky spot? “I think they go back and fine-tune it to where he can come back and try to be a triple count champion again at the World Championships, which will definitely set him up to be in the air of top five, that alive, man. Like, you can’t—it’ll be kind of, uh, once he gets a Triple Crown again, it’s kind of hard to not put him in that area,” added Green.

Noah Lyles is on a journey to becoming one of the greatest. As Green himself puts it, “I think that’s what he’s chasing, chasing legacy…..He’s not talking about competing against people; he’s competing against the clock.” As Lyles navigates distances, he has to decide if he wants a legacy. Or if he wants history’s hands on his shoulder briefly!