Even the best in the world sometimes have to come across setbacks they aren’t prepared for. With the 2024 Olympics only weeks away, the final stretch to Paris is getting intense, and Noah Lyles has received an unprecedented sucker punch to the guts. After being handed a sound defeat by Jamaica’s Oblique Seville, the reigning world champ is licking his wounds with fire in his eyes, and an Olympic veteran thinks Seville should brace for imminent impact in Paris.

While Justin Gatlin is still skeptical about Lyles’ chance of breaking Usain Bolt’s records, he thinks Seville shouldn’t be feeling so lucky with one emphatic victory over the American last weekend on home soil.

Noah Lyles’ opponents should pull up their socks, says Gatlin

In a podcast episode of Ready Set Go on YouTube, Gatlin was heard talking about how Noah has the potential to turn things around easily and make life a nightmare on the big stage. With Jamaica being one of the USA’s biggest competitors in track and field sports, the retired runner thinks the American contingent won’t give an easy pass to their foes. “I’m glad to see Oblique stepping to the table,” acknowledged Gatlin about Seville picking up the win at the Jamaica National Weekend days ago, but he had a warning to share nonetheless.

“…it’s gonna take more than one punch bro,” Gatlin sounded an ominous warning. And yet, he couldn’t meander around the fact that Seville seems to be the one who is spearheading the Jamaican attack for the moment thanks to his triumph over the world champ.

“…you are the guy who can go out there and fight these fights and keep that tradition of Team USA vs Team Jamaica going and you’re doing a great job of it,” the four-time World Championships gold medalist Justin confessed bluntly. And yet, despite Oblique’s form, Noah could easily turn the table with his high ambitions fueling his performance in recent months.

Noah Lyles has his momentum going

Earlier this year, Noah Lyles made it clear that he would be flying to Paris with the hopes of hauling four gold medals at the Olympics, one in every event. The fact that even Bolt doesn’t have this record under his belt should be enough to underscore how rare the achievement is, but Lyles has been backing up his words with solid performances in recent months. At the Bahamas Relays, Lyles helped Team USA pick up a gold in the men’s 4x100m race while picking up two first-place finishes in April at the Tom Jones Memorial and Bermuda Grand Prix.

While he did suffer a loss at the hands of Christian Coleman at the 2024 World Indoor Championships earlier this year, he managed to obliterate Britain’s Zharnel Hughes at last month’s Atlanta City Games in the men’s 150m race, bolstering his claims for the 200m Olympic title as well.

Now, as the final preparations are being curated to perfection, it waits to be seen if Noah Lyles can indeed lead the USA to track and field triumph in Paris or if they fall at the hands of their Jamaican rivals.