In 2024, Noah Lyles was just unbeatable on most occasions. Yes, the American sprinter was simply dominant the moment the outdoor season started. And he eventually earned his first Olympic gold medal in Paris in the men’s 100m finals. Lyles could’ve gone for the triple feat in the French capital. But COVID-19 hampered his 200-meter race. Thus, he failed to make it to the 4x100m relay team due to the disease.

However, the 2025 season will be an important one for the American runner. Noah will be defending his 100m and 200m titles at the Tokyo World Championships. The community never leaves an occasion to compare Noah to his rivals. And the upcoming New Balance Indoor Grand Prix prompted one such comparison a few days ago. However, despite receiving a lot of criticism, his Italian rival recently shared a candid thought that offered an optimistic outlook for the upcoming campaign.

He denies succumbing to criticism

Any athlete will always accept constructive criticism. But sometimes it can become overwhelming and significantly impact their performance. This is because the benchmark that Noah Lyles set as the Olympic champ served as a wake-up call for many. Sprinters who rarely faced any sort of competition now had a target. Indeed, that lack of competition was also seen by the Tokyo gold medalist, Lamont Marcell Jacobs. Why? Because it was him that Noah beat in the finals of the 100m event in Paris. 

The track and field community never considered the Italian runner as a serious competitor in the 2024 season. This is owed to his lack of form. He rarely ran a sub-10 throughout the campaign. And many even claimed him to be some “washed-up dude” after he registered himself along the 60-meter grid in the New Balance Grand Prix, as he will be running against Lyles in the first race of the season.

Criticism has always been a part of Jacobs’ athletic career, but responding to the recent internet bashing, he made a statement on X, stating, “Almost there. On February 2nd in Boston, a new indoor season begins. One step at a time, this is where the year takes shape. First the indoor season, then the outdoor, all the way to the World Championships in September. Every race is an opportunity to grow and get closer to my goals.” Indeed, 2024 didn’t go the way he planned, but he’s not afraid of the challenges that 2025 will bring for him.

Jacobs is taking it slow, as first he will be focusing on the indoor season. Next on his list will be the outdoor season, ultimately leading up to the Tokyo World Championships. Indeed, the Japanese event will be the most intense track meet of the upcoming campaign, and he has his target locked in on it. However, he will often face Lyles on the grid, and historically, one athlete has consistently outperformed the other.

Comparing Noah Lyles with the Italian sprinter

Noah Lyles and Lamont Marcell Jacobs have established successful track careers. They have been competing for a long time but have only met against each other on 3 occasions, where they shared the common grid. As per the statistics provided by World Athletics, the first time the two sprinters met each other in the 100-meter distance was back in the 2023 Paris Diamond League. And what were the results? While Lyles secured first place with a blistering 9.97 seconds, Jacobs was far behind in seventh with a 10.21.

Similarly, at the 2023 Budapest World Championships’ semifinals, Lyles came in first with a 9.87, while Jacobs didn’t make it to the finals after coming in fifth with a time of 10.05 seconds. The Italian runner’s performance was disastrous, and the Budapest crowd had not anticipated such a result from the reigning 100m Olympic champion.

Similarly, throughout the 2024 season, the two only met at the Paris Olympics’ 100m finals, where Lyles took the crown from Jacobs, placing first with a time of 9.79 seconds, while the Italian settled for fifth with a time of 9.85 seconds. Indeed, the seasons haven’t been in favor of Jacobs. But he’s still hoping for a glorious comeback to the top step of the podium.