Noah made it to the podium again! American Paralympian Noah Malone showcased his exceptional talent on the world stage, clinching a silver medal in the T12 100m at the 2024 Paralympic Games. With a time of 10.71 seconds, the former Indiana State sprinter missed out on Gold by the narrowest of margins- one-hundredth of a second behind Turkey’s Serkan Yildirim. However, his journey to the podium was nothing short of remarkable as he set the pace by clocking the fastest time of 10.75 seconds in the prelims.

The silver win of Noah Malone marks his second consecutive Paralympic Games where he has medaled in the event. Despite clocking the impeccable time in the preliminary heats, the final unfortunately turned out to be a nail-biter. However, Malone’s silver finish adds to his already impressive Paralympic medal haul, which includes a Gold and silver each from the 2020 Tokyo Games. Such a win by Noah Malone made his namesake, Olympic gold medalist Noah Lyles, share a congratulatory message that particularly stands out.

Amid the celebrations and congratulations, American phenomenal sprinter and now Olympic gold medalist Noah Lyles took to X (formerly Twitter) to congratulate Malone. He quipped, “Must be something in the name Noah that makes you fast.” With the playful comment, Lyles has set social media abuzz as he has not only praised Malone but also touted his own bandwagon indirectly. 

The lighthearted exchange between the two fastest sprinters added an extra layer of excitement to Malone’s silver medal win, as Lyles connected the worlds of Olympic and Paralympic sports with his words. It also seems the 22-year-old Paralympian followed the footsteps of his namesake, who is 5 years older than him and just secured two Olympic medals in Paris!

Noah Lyles’ fiery sprint against the most formidable opponents etched his name in pages of Olympic history. However, it isn’t just his win that makes Lyles stand out, rather it’s the photo-finish moment with his rival Kishane Thompson, who finished five-thousandths of a second later than Lyles. Despite both clocking 9.79 seconds, Lyles’ luck played the bigger role here. However, for Lyles’ namesake, a stroke of similar luck didn’t come into play as he lost his gold to Serkan Yildirim by just one-hundredth of a second.

Unstoppable rise of the Noahs in the realm of track and field 

It is not just Noah Lyles who has been supportive of Noah Malone; it has also been a two-way camaraderie. In a recent episode of Ready Set Go, Justin Gatlin cracked a joke where he added that Malone’s girlfriend cheered for Lyles in Paris. He stated, “This young man (Noah Malone) is just so modest. We were sitting in the stands for the Olympic final, and I did a little research, man. I don’t know if you want to share, but your girlfriend was sitting in the Olympic final of the men’s 100, too. She was right there cheering for the other Noah.”

Now, as Malone is showered with heaps of love and praise, he has to fight his own battle to reach his goal. Besides handling the struggle of being a Paralympian, Malone was also diagnosed with a rare complication with his eye, namely Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy. “I lost my vision when I was 13, so it wasn’t like I was born in, born with the, the vision loss,” Malone added. On the other hand, Lyles fought battles against asthma, allergies, and ADHD to reach the podium where he stands now. But it is their determination and grit that brings them to the track and ultimately pushes them towards the podium.

Noah Malone is also set to compete in the T12 400m dash and is also in contention for Team USA’s 4x100m universal relay, which is scheduled to happen by the end of this week. Fans would indeed hope that Malone grabs more medals in the Paralympics and makes his nation proud. But do you think it’s his name that’s in play here alongside his destiny? Or is it just their incomparable talent that makes both Noahs the phenomenal sprinters that they are?

Before you leave, check out the latest Think Tank episode on EssentiallySports. Madisen Skinner’s coach, a renowned name in American volleyball, gives a behind-the-scenes perspective about his star player.