Noah Lyles Turns Cheerleader for U20 Champion After Challenging Kenny Bednarek for Reclaiming His Title

Noah Lyles is flying on a high horse. With the 2024 Paris Olympics only over a couple of months away, the 24-year-old is leaving no stone unturned to bring out his best form with hopes of dethroning Usain Bolt in Paris. While he’s fixated on individual glory on the big stage, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have the time to cheer for his pals who are also eyeing a shot at their own golden moments at the grand sporting tournament.

Lyles loves to be there for his colleagues even when he’s not competing on the tracks. Now, as his rivalry with national teammate Kenny Bednarek fires up the race for the top in the men’s 100m event at the upcoming Games, the reigning world champion took a moment to congratulate fellow American Kendal Williams on his big feat.

At the recently held PURE Athletics Sprint Elite Meet, Williams, a two-time U20 World Championships gold medalist scooped the world lead in the men’s 100m after winning the event in 9.93 seconds. The time is also Williams’ personal best score in the event. Sharing the news, Noah took to X to hail the 28-year-old’s achievement jubilantly.

“That’s my Friend!“, wrote Noah in his latest post as he shared the original post made by Track & Field Gazette. From the look of things, Lyles will now have to surpass two world-leading contenders in both the 100m and 200m events, with Kendal’s latest achievement. But Lyles is known to take things head on and that once again became evident as he threw a challenge to Bednarek just a day back.

Kenny Bednarek pulled off the world lead in the 200m race (19.6), yesterday at the Doha Diamond League. Appreciating the feat, Lyles took to his X account and wrote, “Shout out to @kenny_bednarek for that 19.6 world lead that was impressive! I will let you keep it till June 9th 😉.” Kenny also responded by accepting the challenge. With all these, Lyles’ climb to the top was always steep. And now, as Kendal poses as another obstacle on his way to the top, it seems like Noah is in more than a sporting mood to smile at the challenges waiting for him in Paris.

A long and winding road ahead for Noah Lyles

However, considering all his foes who will be flying to the French capital, Lyles will have a run for his money to stay in good spirits at the Olympics. Only last week, the current world champion won another gold at the Bahamas Relays in Nassau. The gold came America’s way after Lyles, accompanied by Bednarek, Courtney Lindsey, and Kyree King dished out sizzling performances to finish first.

Then, at the Doha Diamond League, Bednarek, Lindsey, and King clinched the first three positions respectively in the men’s 100m sprint event, while Lyles stayed away from the tracks. While this is undoubtedly good news for Team USA’s Olympic dream, Lyles’ personal ambition of bagging gold in all four events could be jeopardized thanks to his own national teammates.

On the other hand, Christian Coleman won the gold medal at the previous Diamond League in China and hinted at Usain Bolt’s records possibly being broken soon. Furthermore, considering the international competition facing Lyles, including the likes of Letsile Tebogo, Zharnel Huges, and Akeem Blake, Lyles would need to pull up his socks well. Tell us who you will be rooting for in the men’s 100m race at the 2024 Olympics in the comments!