Noah Lyles sparked significant buzz last week when he raced popular streamer IShowSpeed for $100,000 in a 50-meter dash. While the U.S. athlete managed to secure the win, many felt the race was closer than expected. However, members of the track and field community have defended Noah, arguing that the race wasn’t close at all. This debate has continued to circulate on social media. Now, a track and field legend has speculated that he would have defeated Noah Lyles if he had been in IShowSpeed’s place.

On the Ready Set Go podcast, Rodney Green and Justin Gatlin discussed who would emerge as the winner between the latter in his prime and Noah Lyles. Gatlin, who is also considered one of the best US athletes of all time, felt that his prime, which according to him was in 2015, would most definitely defeat the current version of Noah Lyles, claiming that the statistics already paint the picture. “The numbers already show that I’m winning. I went 19-5 that year, and I ran five 9-7s that year. Under 9-7-9,” he said.

In 2015, Justin Gatlin clocked his personal bests in both the 100m and 200m, with times of 9.74 seconds and 19.57 seconds, respectively. Comparatively, Noah Lyles’ season bests are 9.79 in the 100m and 19.53 in the 200m. A hypothetical race between the 2015 version of Gatlin and the current Noah Lyles would undoubtedly be a thrilling showdown, one that Gatlin confidently believes he would win. However, when Rodney Green suggested he consider racing the 2022 version of Noah Lyles, Gatlin expressed less certainty about the result.

“That’s 19-3, Noah. 19-3. Noah, we know you’re watching,” said Rodney. The athlete’s 200m personal best had been set in 2022, which was 19.31 seconds. This figure completely blows Gatlin’s 19.57 out of the water, making it tough for the track legend to defeat him. But he would have been ready for the challenge.

“I’m not going to lie. I’ll have hell on my hands. It’ll be a good race, though. It’ll be a great race. I’m flash backing right now, thinking about when he came off that turn to run 19-3 and how he was moving. I was like, yeah, that’s a different level of moving right there.” Through the conversation, it is also evident that Justin Gatlin has a lot of respect for Noah Lyles and his achievements. This may have been the reason why he defended the track star when he faced criticism for almost losing to IShowSpeed.

Justin Gatlin defends Noah Lyles from fan criticism after Speed race

Justin Gatlin defended Noah Lyles from the criticism he was receiving for his performance against IShowSpeed. He talked about the friendly race in his podcast, saying that he was impressed by the streamer, who according to him lived up to his name. “Listen, man, it says in his name. His name is Speedy. So you got a little foot speed to him; he has to, at the end of the day.”

However, he then stated that it was absurd to criticize Noah because of this race, as it is off-season and he has barely trained. But still, the track star quite easily got rid of the streamer. “Um, but like I told people, Noah is, this is November. Noah is in no shape whatsoever. He’s not in speed and dirt in shape. He’s not in speedy shape. That’s just his raw wake-up, not in-shape speed right there, and that’s what he gave,” he said.

According to Justin Gatlin, if IShowSpeed had raced Noah Lyles during the track season, the streamer likely wouldn’t have stood a chance and would have been easily outpaced. A rematch, however, could still be intriguing, especially given Speed’s persistent calls for another showdown. Whether the track star will grant Speed’s wish remains to be seen, but it’s a race that fans would surely enjoy watching.