“What Does It Matter if..”: Noah Lyles’ Mother Opens Up on the Other Side of Track and Field

Noah Lyles’s mother, Keisha Caine Bishop, plays multiple roles in one place. Being a proud, observant parent, she cares for the athlete’s basic needs and sporting engagement. Her influence runs so deep that, as a result, she has earned the special recognition of being Noah Lyles’s ‘Momager’ (Mom + manager). But with the budding pressure on the world champion in the Olympic year, Mrs. the lady has to be more alert to keep things in place. 

On Noah Lyles‘s performance, Keisha has nothing to add, except being a satisfied audience. But in hindsight, she has much more to bother to watch her son continue in optimum condition for a longer tenure. 

The debts an athlete pays for success 

Trying multiple sprinting events in the same place and, for a long period, is bound to take a toll on an athlete’s body. Sydney Mclaughlin-Levrone and Wayde Van Niekerk have already exemplified this nuisance before. Taking a serious note of that, Keisha once stated, “Don’t let anybody in the race get hurt. No false starts and everybody run to the best of their abilities.” 

She also described the surrealism of achieving everything but not striving enough to enjoy them all. “What does it matter if you achieve all this? But you don’t get to experience it with anybody,” the careful could elaborate. Keisha’s statements went to air as a part of the ‘Always There- Mothers’ documentary from World Athletics last year. 

However, in the video, she did mention the joy the Lyles family received from watching Noah year after year on the track. “The fact that we get to follow him and do this as a family is the absolute best part of it,” Noah Lyles’ mother expressed in satisfaction.

This entire mother-son bonding dates back to those early years when the kid Noah felt famished for multiple reasons. That time as well, Keisha was there to bring her elder son to life to witness the latter days. 

Noah Lyles’s guardian angel never loses hope 

Last year, in the NBC docuseries, Noah Lyles recalled Keisha’s shade in his life since his early years. Narrating his debilitating childhood persona after facing the multi-pronged attack of ADHD, dyslexia, and asthma, the 26-year-old champion celebrated her mother’s role in inspiring him to step ahead. “She showed me how that would look”, Noah Lyles said. Keisha had her words as well in that gloomy past. But that crisis helped the mother-son bond firmly. 

Read more: “Sad to Lose…”: Noah Lyles Pays Emotional Tribute to ‘Dragon Ball’ Creator Akira Toriyama

“I think Noah and I just got really close because when he was young, he has so many health issues”, Keisha Caine said. “At night…he could not sleep if he laid down because he couldn’t breathe correctly. So I would sit up all night and hold him so that he could fall asleep”, the situation unfolded.

But now the situation seems to be pretty different. Noah Lyles is up against a mountainous target-winning the quadruple in track and field. But for Keisha, he still remains the kid who is trying to claim the world with his feet. So, the pious lady saved her ultimate request to the almighty, “Dear God, please give Noah feet with angel’s wings.”

Also read: 2 Olympic Champions Rally Behind Noah Lyles Amid Controversy Over USATF’s Alleged Favoritism