Soaking in Paris Olympics Glory, Noah Lyles Earns Praise From Track and Field Legend: ‘Got the Job Done’

“I did this against the best of the best on the biggest stage with the biggest pressure,” Noah Lyles said in the press conference after the race of his race of life. The emotions seemed to be natural owing to multiple reasons. First of all, it was his maiden Olympic victory. And secondly, the win established him in a firm position in the track and field record book. From that moment, he could express himself as the perfect candidate, the world’s fastest man. After all, he had earned the gold medal in the men’s 100m event, defeating Kishane Thompson, the world leader in the 100m of this season. 

In the press conference, all these emotions ran through Noah. It was one of the rarest moments when the 27-year-old was ready to acknowledge his opponents’ superiority. He knew that he could have been defeated in the event. Before the race, he had not been counted among the favorites to win the race. But in the end, his mindset accompanied him to prove the naysayers wrong. Noah earned the victory by five-thousandths of a second, the shortest difference of time in Olympic history. Aren’t these facts mind-blowing?  

For Noah Lyles and another Olympic great, these are. The proof of it is Lyles’s X-post today, where he has kept his Olympic glory at the upper echelon while cherishing his achievements of this season. And for Justin Gatlin, his successor’s brave effort exemplifies “the clutch point.” 

In his podcast Ready Set Go, the former Olympic champion praised Noah Lyles for his heroics at the Stade de France. He ultimately claimed, ”You knew he had something left in the tank and you still show up to the line and gave it your all, and your all got the job done, bro.”  Without pausing, Gatlin further added, “That’s very clutch to me, 100%.” Meanwhile, his colleague Rodney Green also nodded in agreement. And why wouldn’t they? 

On August 4 this year, the full house of Stade de France Stadium witnessed a heavy lineup in the men’s 100m event final. It had Marcell Jacobs (the defending champion), Kishane Thompson (the top name in the 100m event this year), Letsile Tebogo (the wunderkind), Fred Kerley (the former world champion), Oblique Seville (who had defeated Noah this year), Akani Simbine (the South African pace battery) and Kenny Bednarek (the versatile sprinter). Furthermore, all these athletes entered their tickets for the final after going through a litmus test in the semis. 

Notably, this time, the men’s 100m semifinal event hinted at what would happen in the final. In the history of the Olympic Games, it was the first time when a sub-10 second finish in the semis couldn’t guarantee a berth in the final. For Noah as well, it was a tough test. He entered the final after claiming second rank behind Oblique Seville in the semis. Nonetheless, at the appropriate moment, he stood on the highest podium, brushing off all doubts. That’s where he won Justin Gatlin’s heart. However, in attaining his target, the six-time world champion’s mindset prevailed as his most efficient weapon. 

Noah Lyles’s mindset earns justified praise

In his podcast, Justin Gatlin clapped at the energy Noah Lyles had brought with him on the track. Because of that mindset, the American record holder can challenge everyone in the event and that’s another clutch point for Gatlin. This echoes the statement made by Lyles in the Sprint docuseries. In an episode of that Netflix series, he can be heard saying, “If you don’t have main character energy, then track and field ain’t for you.” On the night of his glory, Noah brought that energy into the track. 

The techno music in the Stade de France established the scene for the men’s 100m final. Additionally, Noah Lyles’s entry with a shout and jump added the rest of it. In fact, the high-energy body language explained why the Florida native earned the title of ‘Showman’. Did that body language add to his confidence? According to Noah, it always does. Another reason for his success was his never-say-die mentality.

After the 100m final, Noah opened up on that factor as well. He said, “I think back to Tokyo when I messed up handling the rounds. From then on, I was like, ‘I’m never going to do that again. I’m going to handle this correctly and practice over the years’. It’s accumulated to this point. You only need one. As long as that’s the last one, that’s all that matters.” In Tokyo, Noah was nowhere near the podium of the 100m. The clutch point came as the end product of all these components.