The Paris Olympia is still a week away, and the USA track and field camp is already feeling the heat. One after another, Olympians are entering the discussion Noah Lyles has started. The 27-year-old had presented his opinion on the probable US men’s 4x400m relay team for the upcoming heavy battle in the French capital. While doing that, he kept himself on the team, showing Quincy Hall (the current US 400m champion) and Quincy Wilson (the crowd’s favorite 16-year-old phenom) the exit gate.

The comments were made in the Track World News podcast last week, which is far from any official discussion table. Still, Noah Lyles’ mentions irked several individuals, including Quincy Hall, who took Noah’s words as a challenge to his position. Thankfully, now, in the firefight, another Olympian has appeared to douse the situation. 

In his X-post made on July 18, Rai Benjamin tried to direct the attack toward the podcast, which had allegedly taken advantage of Noah’s “Outspoken” character to increase its “clicks”. The 400m hurdler does not want this to happen when the team is looking to be set to take on the opponents at the Paris Olympics.

Therefore, Rai penned down, “Yall gotta stop this 4×4 talk. And you “blogs” have to be better.” Notably, in his suggested 4x400m relay team, Noah Lyles kept Rai Benjamin with him while keeping Chris Bailey and Michael Norman in the other two positions. As per the critics, the proposed relay team has several reasons to come under heavy blows. 

According to several voices, Noah Lyles has advocated for his place in the 4x400m relay lineup when he is not in the announced relay pool for that event. Furthermore, he did not find Quincy Hall eligible to fit into the lineup. While backing such a decision, the global three-peater added, “I just don’t see him getting his full capability out of the first leg.” Meanwhile, he didn’t find Quincy Wilson, Vernon Norwood, or Bryce Deadmon talented enough to give them a place in his discussion. Such an outlandish proposal didn’t go well with Quincy Hall. 

In the US Olympic trials, he achieved his 400m berth, defeating Noah’s proposed relay team members, Michael Norman and Christopher Bailey. Furthermore, on July 12, in Monaco, the 25-year-old registered the world-leading timing in the 400m event. So, his outpouring of emotions after his compatriots had left him out of the squad was normal. Meanwhile, he made several fiery posts after Noah Lyles’ brave attempt to suggest the relay team. 

Quincy Hall invites Noah Lyles to play with his fire 

On July 19, Quincy Hall took the first line of attack to Noah Lyles through his post on X. He took a dig at the podcast Track World News by calling them “yo little podcast” and, in the same breath, invited Noah to a competition. He asserted, “(Noah Lyles) I don’t bother nobody but my blocks ready anytime you feel like you can beat me in the 400”. Naturally, he gathered a lot of support, while Noah had to face criticism for finding smoke everywhere. But in the meantime, the former world champion sharpened his attack on the athlete from Florida. 

In the podcast, Noah Lyles said that Quincy Hall is not suitable for the first leg and it will be “a waste to his talent” if he takes that position. However, clarifying his position in his next post, Quincy said that he had been successful in the opening leg last year. “I popped it off last year,” he added. His performance in the Budapest World Athletics Championships last year speaks volumes about that. In the open leg, he gave momentum to the 4x400m men’s relay team, resulting in finishing top in the race in the final. Ultimately, Quincy Hall said, “You think I don’t deserve a spot? You think you want my spot?” The argument was not going anywhere in that situation. Now the fans can hope that Rai Benjamin’s timely entry into the discussion will change the scenario.