Noah Lyles Reveals the Grand Ambitions Fueling His Pursuit of 4 Medal Haul at Olympics

The Olympics are knocking on the door, and Noah Lyles isn’t one to stay away from the limelight for too long. While his recent loss to arch-rival Christian Coleman at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow shocked many fans, Lyles refused to get swamped by the results. With the outdoor season about to start, Noah is now setting higher standards for himself with the Games in mind.

The American record holder in the 100m and 200m events is determined to make 2024 a year to remember. Only yesterday, Lyles made a controversial remark that his inclusion in the relay race made people more interested in the event, and now, he’s once again made it clear that his ambitions aren’t something that can be determined by others.

Noah Lyles making his intentions comprehensive

In a recent interview with the USA Track and Field podcast, Noah Lyles made it clear that nothing can stop him from becoming one of the all-time greats in track and field. Snippets of the interview have been shared by the official USATF Instagram account and Lyles’ fixation on Olympic glory can’t be overstated. The interviewer reads a question from a fan and Lyles retorts saying, “…what’s wrong with being greedy?“.

The question attempted to evoke the debate of whether Lyles’ decision to perform in all 4 events (100, 200m, 4x100m, and 4x400m) can be considered greedy. However, Noah refused to look at his upcoming uphill climb as something to be frowned upon. Instead, he said, “…the way I see it, if you want to make it onto the Mount Rushmore of track and field, you gotta do what people haven’t done“, clerealy denoting that he won’t stop until he solidifies himself as one of the top four most decorated track and field stars ever. He did not stop there.

“I feel like if I can train myself to be able to do multiple of each, I want to try and accomplish that“, elaborated the six-time World Champion. While his words make absolute sense, as he took a resolute step toward including the 4×400 relay in his armor by taking part in the event in the World Indoors, it created quite a controversy. And one of his arch-rivals was in the forefront.

Taking the controversy head-on and surging forward

Noah Lyles was part of the 4x100m relay team that won gold in WAC 2023 in Budapest. Considering 100m as his stronghold, that is not something very surprising. But 400m is not his forte. Therefore, his inclusion in Glasgow started a conversation that his inclusion cost the gold. Fred Kerley, whom he silenced in the 60m dash in the New Balance Indoors, took a potshot at the country’s apex body calling them out for favoritism.

However, Noah defended himself, claiming that he isn’t different from others when it comes to making an opportunity count and proving their worth. In a tacit reference to his popularity, Noah Lyles also went on saying, “I can’t tell you how many comments and people have come up to me saying, ‘I didn’t even care about the 4×4 until you went to it.” And Lyles truly knows how to keep the audience hooked to him.

Read more: “Punch Him in the Mouth”: US Legend Breaks Noah Lyles vs Christian Coleman Clash At World Indoors

After his silver-winning performance in the 60m dash in the World Indoors, Noah Lyles was asked what is the time he is aiming for when the outdoor season starts. His reply was, “Probably like 9.70s…maybe faster.” He also hinted that it is going to further improve as the year goes along. And who does not know that the year leads to the grand stage of Paris? After all, he has already stated, “All the Olympic medals. I don’t care who wants it. It’s mine.” Going by Noah’s words, one can only be left guessing about what that stage is going to bring out from the Budapest threepeater.

Also Read: “Coming for All”: Noah Lyles Makes a Bold Claim One Day Ahead USATF Indoor Championships