“How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time,” is Noah Lyles’ strategy, in a nutshell, to dethrone Usain Bolt. The American sprinter is chasing the glory of grabbing all the medals and, subsequently, all the records in men’s track sports. However, he knows that he can’t reach that peak all of a sudden. Instead, a slow and steady approach may land him on the cherished ground, achieving the best timings in the sprinting events. Recently, the US Olympic track and field trials provided the perfect platform for Noah Lyles to test his ability.

The results from the contest were satisfying, to say the least. There, alongside his 100m victory, Noah Lyles earned his Olympic qualification in the 200m event as well. But the timing in the latter event navigated him to the world-leading position and closer to Usain Bolt’s existing milestone. 

Noah Lyles inches closer to Usain Bolt’s record 

On Saturday, Hayward Field displayed Noah Lyles with Erriyon Knighton, Christian Coleman, and Kenny Bednarek. However, the reigning world champion cared for nothing while putting the 19.53 seconds on the leaderboard. While the timing proves to be world-leading and top of the deck in the US Olympic track and field trials’ history, it has only a 0.34-second difference with Usain Bolt’s world record in 200m. Expectedly, the timing satisfied Noah greatly as he claimed, “I’m satisfied with the time. It’s right next to what I ran at world championships last year.” Furthermore, he added a few more things that may build his future path to touch Bolt’s milestone. 

In his post-trial conversation, Noah boasted, “19.5 is pretty much my zip code. It’s where my average is.” But he is not going to take the cushion of that timing. Rather, Noah Lyles is eyeing to improve the standard. Serving a few insights on that, he said, “I’m planning to go to London, planning to go to Monaco… Hopefully see maybe another 19.5 or 19.4. We’re getting faster and faster”. With that, he also expressed his hope to see a better result at the Paris Olympics. But what are his chances of touching the 19.19-second ceiling? Well, he has some of the best timings in the 200m events.

However, months ago, Noah had claimed he would be taking part in the Paris Olympics in all four events(100m, 200m, 4x100m, and 4x400m) with eyes on the Jamaican icon’s seat. Lyles has secured his sport for the 100m and 200m, but his aim to establish himself as one of the greatest sprinters of all time with all four events is yet to be confirmed.

Lyles defeated Erriyon Knighton, who has been touted as the next Usain Bolt – a feat he earned after his record-breaking run in the 200m dash in the Oslo Diamond League last year. He posted a 19.77-second time, countering Usain Bolt’s 19.79-second feat in the same league in 2013. Meanwhile, Noah could find further motivation from the legend’s comments on his performances.

Usain Bolt finds a similar spark in his successor 

In his time, Usain Bolt stood tall to every challenge. Even facing speedsters like Asafa Powell, Justin Gatlin, and Tyson Gay could never deter Bolt from performing on his promise, subsequently becoming the ‘living legend’. Noah Lyles has turned out to be almost the same. In the post-Tokyo Olympics period, the American sprinter has claimed almost every large contest in the 200m. His consistency has attracted Usain Bolt’s attention.

This year, in one interview, the Jamaican legend said, “I think if he corrects a few things – I won’t say – he could get better. The possibility is there… I won’t tell you how to break the world record.” That has been almost a green signal to the 26-year-old athlete to go ahead with his objective, grabbing “one bite at a time”. However, all these years, he has been engaging himself in that task and his self-belief has prepared him to keep continuing. 

That self-belief comes into the light when Noah says, “I have the personality, I have the speed, I have the showmanship.” Now the missing factor is the time to click everything at the same venue. Will Noah Lyles’ fate avail that? Stay tuned.