“Slap in the Face”: Noah Lyles’ Post-Award Video Grabs Attention of Track Insider; US Legend Joins the Train to Slam World Athletics

The 2023 has officially ended with the end of World Athletics Award 2023 on the 11th of December 2023. However, it didn’t turn out as it was supposed to for some athletes, especially Noah Lyles. Even after having a staunch year with stellar performances and winning a trophy in the award ceremony, Lyles faced a disappointing end. The disappointment is clear in his post-award interviews.

Not just Noah Lyles, but the entire track and field world frowned upon the changes made by the World Athletics. The former track and field star, Michael Johnson, also took a dig into the same by joining the trail of a US track insider who had voiced his opinion about the same concern.

Michael Johnson expresses disappointment for Noah Lyles

The World Athletics Award Ceremony didn’t go as expected this year. The sudden changes about which the athletes were unaware didn’t make the track community happy. A US track insider shared a video on his X account, where Noah Lyles was seen holding his award with utter disappointment on his face. Slamming the World Athletics for not letting the athletes know about the changes, the caption read, “It does feel like a slap in the face to them”. To this, Michael Johnson also raised his concern adding, “This is not what you want from one of your biggest stars while holding the award. The handling of this by WA is pretty bad.”

Noah Lyles in the video holding his award for being the World Athlete of the Year in track events, expressed that this is not what he expected to feel like. He said, “I don’t like that. I’ll just leave it there”. It was a confusing moment for Noah Lyles, as he didn’t know what was happening. This confusing scenario and classification at the World Athletics took everyone by surprise. The World Athletics has provided its stand for it.

The new classification at the World Athletics Awards 2023

Unlike any other year, this year at Monaco, in the World Athletics Awards 2023, not one but six athletes were named the World Athletes of the Year. The athletes who thought that they were fighting for one title weren’t aware of the criteria for this year. The six athletes Noah Lyles, Mondo Duplantis, Kelvin Kiptum, Tigist Assefa, Faith Kipyegon, and Yulimar Rojas were announced as the World Athletes of the Year for 2023 in categories that were previously nonexistent.

Read more: “Too Lenient” On Himself Despite Record-Shattering Victories, Noah Lyles Declares New Goal For Olympics 2024

This change in the functioning of the ceremony was made based on the voting system. According to the World Athletics, it got extremely difficult for them to limit the vote to just one athlete. However, informing the athletes about this change is the only thing that should have been done according to Noah Lyles and other track members.

Watch this story: Noah Lyles Is All In, Rooting for the $155M Esports Giants at World 2023