Noah Lyles went to the Tokyo Olympics with an aspiration. To win a gold for his country. While he ended up winning a bronze medal in 200m, a dream that many still aspire to achieve, Lyles was simply not happy. He called it boring. But with the 2024 Paris Olympics, he has yet another chance, and this time, he won’t leave without a gold.

Who could forget his epic “3 Peat” feat at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest? Matching his bold words with blistering speed, Lyles snagged gold in both the 100m and 200m, shaking up the competition for reigning champions like Fred Kerley, Marcell Jacobs, André De Grasse, and others. With that, he earned his third consecutive world 200m title in 19.52 seconds. Lyles looks confident, but is he making the mistake of overlooking his rivals?

Is Noah Lyles underestimating his competition?

On Episode 5 of Netflix’s docuseries SPRINT, titled “THE GOLD STANDARD,” viewers got a glimpse of a memorable throwback of the 2023 World Championships pre-race conference featuring the American track and field stars from Fred Kerley, Noah Lyles, Gabby Thomas and others.

Fred Kerley kicked things off confidently, declaring, “I’m Fred Kerley, this is my title.” Noah Lyles, cool as ever, leaned in with a quick retort, “That’s what they all say ’til they get beat.”

The banter continued as Fred boldly stated, “If Noah’s going to run 9.65, then I’m running faster.” However, when asked about 100-meter Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs making his comeback after a series of injuries in 2023, Lyles and Kerley brushed off the topic with some playful teasing. “I know what form he’s in,” Lyles quipped. In the SPRINT episode, it cuts to Lyles laughing about the moment, saying, “A comeback, really? They got a lot of faith in that man.”

The scene then shifted back to Budapest, where Fred Kerley chimed in, “I don’t think we too much worried by him at this moment.” Noah added with a grin, “The question was already answered.” At the 2023 World Championships, Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs didn’t make it past the semi-finals in the men’s 100m, finishing fifth in his heat with a time of 10.05 seconds, which was 0.25 seconds slower than his gold-winning mark at Tokyo 2020.

Yes, it is true that the Italian has been struggling with his form recently and hasn’t been able to match some of his best performances. But he is hopeful about Paris. After all, he was the first Italian to win the men’s 100m at the Olympics (Tokyo) and also picked up the gold in the 4x100m relay.

Marcell Jacobs’ Personal Bests:

However, there is one more aspect that needs attention. He and his long-time coach Paolo Camossi split in 2023 and hence, he had to start from scratch. They had been working together since 2015 and the coach led Jacobs to the 100m title in Tokyo. The athlete now trains under U.S. coach Rana Reider in Jacksonville. With this shift, Jacobs will be training alongside other elite sprinters like Andre De Grasse, Trayvon Bromell, Jerome Blake, and Abdul Hakim Sani Brown.

What was one of the first things Reider needed to look into for his new student? The injuries. “That’s been the biggest thing … trying to figure out why he was carrying so many injuries for so many years. … So we’ve kind of had to unpeel the onion and find a way. We’ve found some stuff that we’ve been able to fix and we’re working our way into being 100% healthy,” Reider shared last month. So if things went according to their plans, the athlete’s injury woes would have been addressed before Paris.

Reflecting on his troubled seasons, Jacobs is ready to prove people wrong.

Marcell Jacobs staunchly claps back at his haters!

On June 18, 2024, Marcell Jacobs clapped back at his doubters by sharing a timeline of his injuries and a list of his achievements on his X platform. Posing with all his medals draped over his shoulder, he highlighted his wins. “🥇Olympic Champion 100 meters, 🥇Olympic Champion 4×100, 🥈World Vice-Champion 4×100, 🥇World Indoor Champion 60 meters, 🥇Two-time European Champion 100 meters, 🥇European Champion 4×100, 🥇European Indoor Champion 60 meters, and 🥈European Indoor Vice-Champion 60 meters.”

He then detailed how these victories came despite serious setbacks and injuries, like failing to qualify for the Rio Olympics in 2016, being eliminated in various European Championships, suffering a sciatic nerve sheath injury in 2023, and almost risking his ability to walk. His message with this update was, “All of this to tell you not to give up at the first difficulty, not to quit when everything seems to be going wrong, to persist and keep fighting, to truly believe in your dreams and face all the challenges life throws at you! 💪🏾”  

Just before sharing this message, the reigning Olympic 100m champion Marcell Jacobs sounded a warning from Turku, Finland. Jacobs clocked a blazing 9.92 on June 18 at the Paavo Nurmi Games, his fastest time since his gold-medal run at Tokyo 2020. He broke the 10-second barrier for the first time in nearly two years in the semi-finals with a 9.99, then clocked 9.92 in the final, where his training partner and Olympic 200m champ Andre De Grasse finished third with 10.00.

Marcell Jacob’s 100m progression since 2020:

This performance showed he was ready to prove himself as the Olympic champion once again. However, despite this impressive feat, with Fred Kerley blazing to a 9.88 season best and Noah Lyles setting a 9.83 at the Olympic trials, Jacobs still faces some serious competition in Paris. What are your thoughts on the friendly banter between track stars Noah Lyles, Fred Kerley, and Marcell Jacobs? Share your thoughts in the comments below!