As the third fastest 200m sprinter in history, Noah Lyles has dominated the event for the last two years. However, the defending world champion’s dominant run ended abruptly when Letsile Tebogo and Kenny Bednarek left Lyles behind in the Olympic 200m finals. Now, track and field icon Rodney Green has named a sprinter who has so far flown under the radar.

You could argue that Lyle would be a double Olympic gold medalist today if he didn’t contract COVID-19 before the 200m finals. However, Ready Set Go co-host Rodney Green is confident in the sprinter from the Dominican Republic. “Another dude on that list… who probably put together one of the best seasons of his life; Alexander Ogando,” announced Justin Gatlin’s co-host.

“Listen he’s been there with them every Diamond League, the Olympics he’s right there,” added the veteran athlete. Green explained that while the 400m specialist is yet to find the podium, he seems to get better with each passing year. “You’ll be like where did he come from? And like he was there the whole time. You just didn’t notice,” Rodney Green told Justin Gatlin.

However, Rodney Green has his reasons for predicting Ogando’s rise during the 2025 season. One of those reasons was the athlete’s age. At 24, Noah Lyles’ future rival is just on the cusp of hitting his prime. Besides the age advantage, Justin Gatlin also highlighted the 200m and 400m contender’s versatility. “I didn’t know that he was actually a 400-meter runner,” said Gatlin.

The fifth-fastest man in history among the 100-meter athletes was also surprised to learn about Ogando’s coach. “His coach is Felix Sanchez,” revealed Just Gatlin. Felix ‘Superman’ Sanchez is one of the Dominican Republic’s most successful athletes and Gatlin’s contemporary. Besides winning two Olympic golds in the 400m hurdles, the 47-year-old has become a successful coach.

Justin Gatlin showed confidence, saying Alexander Ogando is in good hands. “One thing I love about Felix man, he’s going to build dogs,” explained Gatlin. However, before Tokyo 2020 4×400 m mixed relay silver medalist has a chance to challenge Noah Lyles, track and field fans will witness an exciting rivalry play out in 2025.

Noah Lyles will be at the center of a three-way rivalry

The COVID-19 bout, that derailed Lyles’ plans to earn two Olympic golds in Paris, also robbed fans of an epic rivalry. Noah Lyles closed the curtains on his 2024 track and field season shortly after the Summer Olympics. The 27-year-old announced his decision while appearing on Shannon Sharpe’s Nightcap podcast. However, Kenny Bednarek and Letsile Tebogo didn’t disappoint.

With Noah Lyles out of the picture, Letsile Tebogo came into his own in the final half of the competitive season. The Botswanan athlete dominated the 200m races at Lausanne and Silesia Diamond League legs. He even won the 100m race defeating champions such as Christian Coleman in Rome. However, at the biggest race of the season post-Olympics, Kenny Bednarek avenged his loss.

The Paris 2024 200m silver medalist outpaced the surging Olympic champion at the Diamond League finals in Brussels. Bednarek clocked 19.67 seconds, edging out Tebogo for the victory by 13 hundredths of a second. “I had to make a lot of sacrifices,” Bednarek said after the win. So, while Noah Lyles remained absent, Bednarek and Tebogo both proved that they were here to stay. Now with Alexander Ogando waiting in the wings, it’s safe to say that Nojo has his work cut out for him in 2025.