2024 couldn’t have had a better ending for Noah Lyles! Interestingly, the year he got crowned as the fastest man in the world is also the one where he’s trying something new—an inter sports crossover. But, neither is the sport that he’s trying entirely unfamiliar nor is his new ‘coach’ a stranger! So let’s just say Lyles is bidding adieu to this year in a flip-tastic way and it has his fans going gaga over his new avatar!

The 100m Olympic champion, Noah Lyles, seems to have swapped the gym for the track, as he was spotted spending his time on the mat recently. But he wasn’t alone. Instead, Lyles was accompanied by an Olympic bronze medalist gymnast, who led the way as the two tried their hands at different gymnastics tricks!

Noah Lyles joins Fred Richard in the gym

In a joint Instagram post that’s got fans buzzing, Noah Lyles and Olympic bronze medalist Fred Richard were seen teaming up for a gymnastics challenge. While watching Richard in this zone was the usual business for gymnastics fans, Noah Lyles’ arrival in this field was surely an unexpected treat. But the purpose of this collaboration was to seek answers to this question, “Is Noah Lyles a good gymnast?”

To find out the answer, Fred Richard then sets a challenge series where he leads the way and Noah Lyles tries to match up. It starts with a muscle up on the rings, where Richard finds Lyles’ version very technical and impressive. Next comes a handstand hold, which Lyles also aces with ease. Followed by handstand push-ups in the final round, where Lyles once again rose to the occasion, earning praise from Richard for maintaining great form.

However, the highlight comes in fourth, which is the backflip. After Richard nailed a clean flip, Lyles admitted he hadn’t attempted one in a while. Yet, proving that no challenge is too high for the world’s fastest man, Lyles entered the stage and pulled off a flip so clean and with such incredible height that it even gave Richard a run for his money! Clearly hyped by his performance, Lyles wrote, “Put me in the game, coach!” in the comments below.

This fiery crossover truly got fans all excited. Although this is hardly the first time. The last time when the world saw the Lyles x Richard crossover, it was over a video call where Lyles pinpointed Richard’s sprinting skills and that they needed great work. But as the tables turned, Richard did not get a chance to critique him, as Noah Lyles pulled the gymnastics work off with great finesse and confidence. So much so that fans were left incredibly impressed, while a few had some suggestions for the sprinter.

Fans chime in with reactions on Lyles’ gymnastic stint

Commenting on the video, one of the fans wrote, “Knew Noah would be great. All sub-10 sec runners are tremendous athletes and can excel in almost anything. Especially plyometric exercises!” Being a fast-paced sprinter, it’s obvious that Noah Lyles goes hard on his training. Thus, it’s no surprise that he has his core, legs, and arms equally activated and could pull off the muscle up and handstands without wobbling.

To keep his engine primed, Lyles had previously shared that he clubs both—track and strength training, the latter involving box squats, bench presses, and glute bridges, among other exercises. This sure helped him ace the gymnastics basics. But some of his fans feel that he might have had another advantage.

One of them commented, “To be fair he did start off with gymnastics then switched to track.“ And indeed, this is true. Although it is Fred Richard who brought Noah Lyles’ dormant gymnastics skills to life, the Florida native had kicked off his sports career in the gym. Not many people know, but he was a gymnast until 12 years of age, which is when he shifted to the track for the first time.

Lyles was a gymnast, but after watching the 2012 Summer Olympics, he was inspired to make the switch. In fact, even that started in the pit, as he first took up the high jump before switching to sprints. Thus, it’s no wonder that Noah Lyles is highly athletic and can pull off such stunts with ease. This is probably why another fan commented, “Is there anything Noah can’t do?”

He’s the world’s fastest man in the 100m and a pro sprinter in the 200m. Beyond that, Noah Lyles is a frequent face in fashion events. In fact, he walked at the New York Fashion Week this year, donning Willy Chavaria’s collection. And now, he’s made his debut in gymnastics too! Truly an all-rounder, isn’t he?

But some fans couldn’t get over his backflip. Remember how Fred Richard was giving backflip training to IShowSpeed a few days ago? Some feel that Noah Lyles’ skills are better than that! To the extent that one of the fans wrote, “Speed should’ve challenged you in backflips instead lmaooo”

Clearly the fans believe that Noah Lyles’ strength, coordination, and athleticism are on point. And there is even great room for improvement should he train in that direction. “Crazy explosive on that flip! Looks like he could have done a double!” A double-double on the floor is a hardcore gymnastics move that involves two backflips in a tucked position, with a twist on each flip. Imagine, that’s how highly fans have regarded Noah Lyles’ skill!