Despite Breaking Usain Bolt’s Record, Noah Lyles Defeated by Sha’Carri Richardson in a Different Race

The many gambles of the track and field came to an end in Hungary. At the end of the nine-day event with mounted stress, the world saw some of the fastest athletes get crowned. The World Championships paved the way for the upcoming Paris Olympics which is taking place in less than a year. Team USA took first place with 29 medals, including 12 golds. The headlines shifted to the reigning 100m sprinters Noah Lyles and Sha’Carri Richardson. Both of them hit it out of the park setting personal and professional records that will go down in history.

Focus switched to the Noah Lyles vs. Sha’Carri Richardson debate as the uproar over their competence grew. As the conversation drifted away from their sport, all of their wins and riches were added up when Richardson gained the upper hand by a peculiar detail.

Here’s where the 100m reigning athlete beat Noah Lyles

The 2023 World Athletics Championships were held in Budapest from August 19–27. Lyles prevailed in the sprints, which included victories in the 100, 200, and 4×100-meter relay making him a supernova. On the other hand, Richardson won a gold medal in the 100-meter sprint at the international championships. Since Richardson missed out on 3X golds like Lyles, a tweet by @trackspice gained massive attention highlighting her fan following on Instagram and Twitter. 

The list of mixed names in the track and field had Lyles missing from both Instagram and Twitter platforms. The 23-year-old Richardson, who actively updates her fans, boasts 2.7M on Instagram and 498.9K on X (formerly known as Twitter). If you follow her, you probably know that outside of the arena, Richardson is best known for her long hair, vibrant nails, and thick lashes. While the figures in her account keep exploding, you will rarely find her in the same hair color.

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The older athlete, Lyles, is also active on Instagram and has a following of 477K. One can hardly notice the recent addition in the bio which reads, “American Record holder 19.31.” The prestigious record sits behind Usain Bolt’s 19.19 in 2009 and Yohan Blake’s 19.26 in 2011 making Lyles the third fast-time in history. He also won this year’s Forbes 30 under 30 award, which is listed right below. He also has 74.1K followers on an unverified Twitter account, which is somewhat behind the track. Despite the contrasts in their internet presence, their track and field triumphs keep them together in the news.

Noah Lyles and Sha’Carri Richardson’s parallel records

Despite dodging a bullet in the cart crash just prior to his semi-final, Lyles easily won the 200-meter gold medal. He added his name to the list of 3X gold winners, 16 years after Allyson Felix, by winning three gold medals in each of the races that he lined up for. Previously, Lyles won two of his three gold medals in the 200-meter race at the World Championships in 2019 and 2022.

As for Richardson, the path to the Tokyo Games was obstructed by a positive marijuana report during the Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon. However, this time she won a gold medal running 100m in just 10.65 seconds becoming the fastest woman in the world at the World Athletics Championships. Up next, the Olympic track meet at the Stade de France will begin in 340 days where the two athletes will perform to win their Games crowns.

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