Noah Lyles’ Race For World Lead Dismissed by Kyree King Ahead of US Olympic Trials: “Anything Before June Doesn’t Matter”

It’s every man for himself at the US Track and Field Team Trials. With the nation’s top sprinters waiting to start their journey to Paris, all eyes will be on Eugene tomorrow and the banters are already making things interesting. While the USA will be looking to bag gold medals in troves in Paris, the competition to be in the national team is intense in itself, and Noah Lyles just got handed a reality check by one of his most formidable teammates.

As the 2024 Games inch closer, the stakes are high, and ceding any ground is out of the question. With a major victory at the recent LA Grand Prix, Kyree King is running high on Cloud 9. Understandably, he couldn’t let a chance to slide a few sneering comments to the reigning world champ right before they locked horns on the tracks.

Noah Lyles’ opponent isn’t backing off without a fight

In an article by Olympics.com from earlier today, King talked about how he is feeling the excitement and considers himself in the same league with the likes of Noah, Fred Kerley, and Christian Coleman. While many would argue that King doesn’t boast a spectacular resume like his national peers, King refuses to show any signs of being intimidated. “I’ve been in a lot of those races and I’ve been competing with those guys,” said the 29-year-old. He also had his own predictions to share about what’s about to go down at the team Trials tomorrow.

“Anything before June doesn’t matter. Olympic Trials are here, so anything before then doesn’t really matter,” said King as he noted how all the past accolades would amount to nothing if an athlete can pull off something that really matters at the big occasion. “You have to come and do it here. If you don’t do it here then you’re going to be at home while everyone else is in Paris,” Kyree sought to use trash-talking to unnerve his opponents.

While Noah is the current world champion in the men’s 100m sprint, his position in the global ranking list is being constantly challenged in all areas, and Kyree is but one among many who will be eyeing pulling a quick one over the former’s head on the big stage.

Intimidating names size up Noah

As the Olympics’ shadow continues to loom larger, Lyles has been facing serious competition from his international colleagues at every chance they get. Earlier this month, 26-year-old Noah was handed a major blow to the guts as Oblique Seville reignited the long-standing feud between the USA and Jamaica as the latter picked up the world lead by defeating Noah at the Racer’s Grand Prix. With that, Seville also broke the previous world lead set by 17-year-old Christian Miller at the PURE Athletics Elite Invitational in Florida.

And then, at the Kenyan Olympic trials, Ferdinand Omanyala pushed the boundaries even further as he nabbed the world lead in the men’s 100m sprint with a stunning 9.79 seconds. As of now, both Omanyala and Seville boast a 100m time that is even better than Lyles’ best time in the event (9.83 seconds). However, it would be foolhardy to discount Noah by any means. This year, Lyles has displayed his mettle in more than one competition and is also the current top-ranked runner in the men’s 200m event, while being only the second in the 100m race.

Now, as King, Noah’s teammate who helped the USA win the gold at the Bahamas Relays this year, also looks to weigh in on being a hurdle that the latter must cross to get to Paris, it remains to be seen if Lyles can reclaim his elite status in Oregon tomorrow.