Noah Lyles finds himself in the middle of another huge controversy after the conclusion of the Paris Olympics. Lyles, who won the gold medal in the men’s 100m discipline was accused of not attending Anthony Edwards’ special shoe launch event with Adidas recently. The general consensus going around was that Lyles did not find all the hype worth it and was of the opinion that Anthony Edwards did not deserve so much attention at such a young age. 

However, debunking the rumors and speculations, Noah Lyles took to his X account recently and clarified the reason for not attending Edwards’ event. Lyles stated, “There is a rumor going around that I did not go to @theantedwards_ shoe release because he didn’t deserve it. That is not the case he definitely deserves his shoes he is an amazing player. The problem was finding time based on my prior engagements. Congratulations on Becoming an Olympic champion!” 

In fact, 23-year-old Anthony Edwards has been on the rise in the NBA recently. Although the young star couldn’t bring glory to his country in the World Cup, he certainly didn’t disappoint in Paris. Scoring as many as 13 points per game with an average of 1.6 steals, Edwards had an impressive Olympic debut, helping to clinch the gold for his country.

As a matter of fact, 23-year-old Anthony Edwards has been on the rise in the NBA horizon in recent times. Although the youngster failed to bring glory for his country in the World Cup, Edwards surely did not disappoint in Paris. Garnering as many as 13 points with an average 1.6 steals per game, Edwards had quite an astonishing Olympic debut clinching the gold for his country. 

Looking at Edwards’ meteoric rise, Adidas decided to honor him by offering a multi-million dollar contract. This deal will supposedly dish out an 8-figure pay per year. After the Olympics too, Adidas continued their worshipping of Edwards. Dropping a brand new ad campaign, Adidas gave the caption, ‘From Atlanta to the World. Anthony Edwards is just getting started. Believe That.’ They also rolled out an exclusive golden Adidas AE 1s to acknowledge Anthony Edwards’ Olympic feat. 

That brings us to Noah Lyles. The phenom of the American track and field realm is also an Adidas-registered athlete. Lyles and Adidas signed a multi year contract extension in February, with the details of the deal remaining undisclosed. After winning the gold medal, Lyles seemed to be dissatisfied with all the hype that Adidas had been creating around Anthony Edwards. Expressing his frustration, Lyles said, “You want to invite me to [an event for] a man who has not even been to an NBA Finals? In a sport that you don’t even care about? And you’re giving him a shoe?”

Lyles then went on to express his desire to own an exclusive range of sneakers, instead of spikes. He said, “I want my own shoe… Ain’t no money in spikes.” Such a comment coming from the Olympic gold medalist riled up the entire internet and Lyles was subjected to very harsh criticism. Well, this was not the only controversy that Noah Lyles has been involved in Paris. 

Noah Lyles expresses his frustration towards constant backlash from the Jamaican fans

Noah Lyles won the men’s 100m by a matter of five-thousandths of a second. After finishing identically at 9.79s with Jamaican rival Kishane Thompson, Lyles was elated as the scoreboard announced the gold medal in favor of Noah Lyles. However, despite his clean victory, the Jamaican fans did not seem to be happy with the results. They insisted that Kishane Thompson had been ‘robbed’ of a deserving gold medal. 

Reacting to the news, Noah Lyles mentioned that the Jamaicans were jealous because they did not expect Lyles to come out all guns blazing, especially when he was being thrashed for his slow timings all year round. Lyles stated, “Unfortunately, they went from not having a dog in the fight last year to having a great dog in the fight this year. So they went from loving me to hating me very quickly.” The gold also meant that Lyles had won his duel with Ferdinand Omanyala, who gave an Usain Bolt-like lookover to Lyles after beating the American at the Racers Grand Prix. 

Speaking about controversies and backlashes from the Jamaicans, Noah Lyles’ personal space was also not spared. Lyles announced his romantic involvement with Jamaican female athlete, Junelle Bromfield. Ever since then, both Lyles and Bromfield have been constantly attacked by the Jamaicans. Calling Bromfield a ‘traitor’ every time she cheered for Lyles, the fans also launched scathing attacks on Bromfield after she faltered in her 400m outing in Paris. Reacting to the hate, Lyles lashed out in a Track World Sports exclusive, “I have been getting the drama from Jamaican camps for at least five years now.” Thus, with the above accounts, it is evident that Noah Lyles might have won the Olympic gold, but he will have his work cut out to tackle the negativities and controversies surrounding him in the days to come.