Noah Lyles has never shied away from speaking his mind. Whether it’s the self-confidence he harbors, speaking out against his opponents, or his infamous opinions about other sports and athletes, Lyles knows how to bring attention. His outspoken nature is pretty similar to what we got to see from U.S. track and field legend Michael Johnson during his heydays. Despite Lyles’ polarizing personality, Johnson is full of admiration for him.

Ahead of the Olympics, Lyles said in February, that he is coming for everything at the Olympics. “All the Olympic medals. I don’t care who wants it. It’s mine.” He did end up winning the gold in the 100m event. This was followed by a bronze in the 200m despite testing positive for COVID two days earlier. Though he didn’t win all the gold, Lyles pretty much backed his words in Paris.

The founder of Grand Slam Track may see a bit of himself in the 27-year-old Olympic champion, which could explain why he views Johnson Lyles as a worthy adversary. In a video shared by Grand Slam Track on X, Demitra Carter asked Johnson, “If you could race against any current athlete, who would you choose?” Johnson replied, “It would be Noah, absolutely Noah,” without hesitation.

When asked if was it due to the energy he brings, the four-time Olympic gold medalist agreed before adding, “He knows how to entertain, he knows how to get the crowd into it. He has figured out that balance, like I did. How to hate to lose but not be afraid to lose. Those are dangerous athletes when you are not afraid to lose.”

Lyles certainly knows how to get the people to watch him. His comments in July in an interview with AFP again brought him attention as he seemingly dismissed the Jamaican threat in Paris to his ambitions. “I beat everyone that I touch. I don’t see why the Jamaicans are any different. This is what I pray for, this is what I live for, and I back myself up, don’t I?” he was quoted as saying.

Lyles’ ability to get people talking about him isn’t limited to track and field fans. Last year at the World Championship, he drew the ire of NBA fans after his infamous, “world champions of what?” comment. The drama between Lyles and the NBA community spilled over to Paris, with many basketball stars showing up for Lyles’ 100m win. Lyles gets people to watch him whether they like him or not and that is not a bad trait to have. Meanwhile, Michael Johnson dived into what the competition between him and Lyles would be like.

“He would be an amazing challenger,” he said. “We would both be talking and you know mutual respect. But on the track, we would just be going at it. I love Noah for that.” It is no surprise that Johnson has showered admiration and love for Lyles. The track and field icon has long been an advocate for the sport having more personalities and earlier this year said the athletes needed to be a little more “arrogant.”

After 5,000m champion Jakob Ingebrigsten claimed that he would beat rival Josh Kerr while blindfolded, Johnson said that the Norwegian is becoming his favorite athlete, prompting a fan to ask who was the best humble athlete according to Johnson.

Johnson’s reply surprised many as he wrote, “In my humble opinion most of the track athletes are too humble. Most of them are great and most of them are humble. And that’s a problem,” on X, on February 17. At that time, Johnson also praised Lyles, Sha’Carri Richardson and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone for bringing mainstream attention to US athletics.

Talking further with Carter, the former world champion said “Luckily for me, you would never see that,” when mentioning a dream scenario of a race with Lyles. Obviously, he cannot match Lyles on the track at 56, but one can’t help but wonder how a prime Michael Johnson would fare against Noah Lyles.

Noah Lyles vs. Michael Johnson: How do they measure against each other

Johnson and Lyles share much in common on the track, both thriving under the spotlight and securing medals for their nations when it mattered most. However, Johnson has a more impressive gold tally. The 56-year-old won 8 World Championship golds compared to Lyles’ 6, and 4 Olympic golds compared to Lyles’ 1. Johnson also held world and Olympic records in the 200m and 400m events.

Noah Lyles holds neither the 100m nor the 200m world record. Then again, Johnson also doesn’t come close to matching Usain Bolt’s records. However, Lyles pulls ahead when comparing the raw stats. While Johnson may have held more records, Lyles beat Johnson’s 19.32s 200m PB by 00.01s to become the world’s faster 200m sprinter. The 27-year-old also leads in the 100m. His 9.79s sprint in Paris comfortably beats Johnson’s 10.09s PB.

However, neither gold medals nor stats are enough to decisively declare a winner among such iconic athletes. Kishane Thompson arrived in Paris with a significant lead over Lyles but lost by a margin of four-thousandths of a sec.

Yet, who do you think wins a clash between Noah Lyles and prime Michael Johnson? Write your thoughts in the comments.