Noah Lyles’ Last Minute Efforts in Vain as Team USA Suffers Brutal Blow at World Indoor Championships—Day 3

Kicked off on March 1, the World Indoor Championships 2024 will conclude on March 3. Today being the last day of the Paris qualifying event, the track stars are vying for their respective podiums. Noah Lyles, the 200m reigning champion faced his biggest 60m upset from Christian Coleman yesterday. In an attempt to make up for the lost gold podium, Lyles reappeared for the 4x100m relay on the final day in Glasgow. But his team finished with an unfortunate silver with 3:02.60.

Just a fraction away from the finish line, Belgium soared to victory, clocking in at 3:02.54. The loud cheers toned down as the last leg upset left fans in shock. Tim Adams’ X post reads, “Oh my god what an unbelievable finish to the men’s 4x400m relay at the World Indoor Championships. Belgium beat USA in a last gasp finish and atmosphere was unreal”. Although the US team couldn’t maintain their gold-winning streak, Lyles ran at his maximum ability.

Devin Heroux’s post reads, “Here is Noah Lyles, 400m leg of the relay. Lyles posts a 45.68, the fastest third leg. He kept the Americans in front heading into the final leg”. Having taken part in the 4x100m Indoors for the first time in his career, the 26-year-old put his best foot forward. Even on the second-last day of the World Indoor Championships, when he had the same mindset, he just fell short of 0.03s.

Lyles let slip the most coveted gold

Having set pace in a multitude of top tracks, the threepeater tried to do the same in the 60m dash against Indoor record holder Coleman. But he finished with the silver (6.44s), which wasn’t the time he set his sights on. In a post-race interview, he shed light on what went inside him right after the whistle blew. “I just got to a point where I was like ‘All right, we’re just going to go out there and run.’ And there was definitely a point where I saw where Christian was and I’m like, I’m about to catch him”. 

But the latter part of his speech also brought his disappointment to the fore, when he said, “I came in as world leader and I’m leaving as the second-fastest. But, this is my worst race and I’m kicking everybody’s b**t”. In 2024, Noah Lyles’ only lookout will be to match up to Usain Bolt or maybe outclass his leading time.

READ MORE: Noah Lyles Asserts Superiority Over Christian Coleman as He Eagerly Anticipates Outdoor Season