Controversies follow Noah Lyles everywhere he goes… Even if that means bringing PR trouble to an otherwise solemn event from the past. Adidas unveiled Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards’s shoes on Dec 16, branding it in the “With Love” colorway, fashioned in chic pinkish-peach style, the favorite shades of Ant-man’s late mother and grandmother. Everything was okay until Lyles decided to passionately rant in an interview with Sean Gregory of Time on June 27.

Apparently, Lyles was invited to the event but he later denied it. Misunderstanding or not, Lyles understood the gesture as Adidas throwing him a bone at a point of time when the 6x World Championship gold medalist was still negotiating a contract extension. Lyles opened his monologue, “You want to do what?”

“You want to invite me to [an event for] a man who has not even been to an NBA Finals? In a sport that you don’t even care about? And you’re giving him a shoe? No disrespect: the man is an amazing athlete. He is having a heck of a year. I love that they saw the insight to give him a shoe, because they saw that he was going to be big. All I’m asking is, ‘How could you not see that for me?’”

The result? Adidas first declined to comment on the matter, and handed Lyles one of the loftiest contracts since the Lightning Bolt era. His agency, Global Athletics and Marketing, Inc., announced the 6-year deal and noted that “the agreement involves extensive commitments both on and off the track and is the richest contract in the sport of track and field since the retirement of Usain Bolt.” The exact value wasn’t disclosed as is the norm with such things in track and field. So, what changed now?

The controversy followed through the nooks and crannies of his runs in the Olympic Games. Lyles denied the ongoing rumor that many thought was a personal attack on Edwards. He updated his stance on the matter on Aug 12 saying, “There is a rumor going around that I did not go to @theantedwards_shoe release because he didn’t deserve it.

“That is not the case he definitely deserves his shoes he is an amazing player. The problem was finding time based on my prior engagements. Congratulations on Becoming an Olympic champion!”

Now enter Rai Benjamin, 400mH and 4x400mH gold medalist at the Paris Olympics. Benjamin and Lyles are back home now, and it is evident that Lyles has a friend and supporter in Benjamin. In fact, Benjamin’s IG story suggests they had a Thursday lunch date at a burger spot Heavy Handed in Santa Monica with “a random family from Canada.” Rai Benjamin. Moving on, the ongoing controversy and trolling around Lyles forced a reaction out of Benjamin who tweeted,

“For everyone asking how. Being DENSE on purpose is so interesting to me lol. Nonetheless. The level of attention he brought after sprint/ during the games/ post OLY. The Fact that that post even triggered you… Dude changed the game forever. Whether you like it or not.” He continued, 

“Noah Lyles really changed the game man. You can keep fooling yourself but he really changed the game. We can all be civil.. really isn’t that hard.” 

Well, this was not the first instance when Benjamin showed his support towards the Paris 100m gold medalist. Getting involved with the Dolphins’ WR Tyreek Hill, the NFL star challenged Lyles for a 50-yard dash to figure out who the fastest was. This was not well-received by Benjamin. He immediately expressed his frustration by saying, “I’m tired of the Noah Lyles slander.” Haters are gonna hate, and this time, followers just made a scapegoat of him for going against the grain. 

Rai Benjamin termed as ‘delusional’ by fans

Despite Rai Benjamin’s explanation, fans do not seem to be pleased with Noah Lyles at all. An X user questioned Rai Benjamin’s praise for Noah Lyles by arguing that Lyles didn’t set new records beyond his usual outspoken behavior. They wrote, “How dis he change the game bruv??? What seismic shift did he achieve ???? Gamesmanship  I saw no records broken or earth shattering thing he did outside a run his mouth as usual???” Although Lyles had confidently vowed to break Bolt’s record, Lyles’ 19.31 seconds from 2022 still shelves him as the third-fastest man in history (in 200m), trailing just Bolt and Yohan Blake. However, the same feat saw him surpass Michael Johnson’s long-standing national record of 19.32.

Another fan expressed skepticism about Rai Benjamin’s claim that Noah Lyles has significantly boosted interest in track and field. The user commented, “Bro if u think people care about track now cause of lyles… you’re delusional 😂😂nobody give af bout that sport.” But then, there are his appearances at the The Met Gala, U.S. Opens, fashion shows, TV and Entertainment (docuseries on Peacock and Netflix), and the list is yet to get started considering he is now an Olympic gold medalist. 

This fan echoes the same sentiment, “To what Rai?!?! To what?!?! To turning himself into a meme?!?”

One track enthusiast suggested while Noah Lyles has made significant contributions to track and field, his perceived arrogance or lack of humility has diminished his public image. The user mentioned, “Humility could have done him right but I guess Covid replaced his Humility”. The fan also sarcastically added that Lyled was inflicted by COVID during the Paris Games.

One commenter resorted to criticizing Rai Benjamin for calling people ‘Dense’. The X user points out that Benjamin previously spoke about the importance of being civil, implying that his use of “DENSE” contradicts his own advice. The comment read, “Weren’t you the one JUST talking about it not being hard to be civil ? Is calling people “DENSE” because they needed clarity on a vague statement “being civil” ? Do better!” 

The 27-year-old has had his run-ins with online hate before. But with the situation looking quite grim for Rai, it would be interesting to see how they both come out of it. Only time will tell.