Noah Lyles confirms his participation in Diamond League Final 2023

American athlete Noah Lyles has confirmed his participation at the upcoming Nike Prefontaine Classic, scheduled to be held on September 16 and 17. Previously, the athlete hinted at calling it a season after accomplishing a gold medal in the Zurich Diamond League 2023.

On September 1, Friday, he clocked an impressive 19.80s in the 200m race at the Zurich Diamond League. After the championship, the American athlete took to social media to look back at his performances at the 2023 World Athletics Championships.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Lyles boasted the three gold medals he won in Budapest in 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay races. He also mentioned defending his world champion title in the 200m race.

Sharing his record at the recent world championships, the 26-year-old wrote:

“And with that I say goodbye to the 2023 season."

Noah Lyles has been a four-time winner at the Diamond League in the 200m race. His four wins came in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2022. Lyles’s statement about concluding his 2023 season meant he is not defending his title from last year.

However, on Wednesday, September 6, the American athlete changed his mind and surprised his fans. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist announced his participation in the Diamond League Final through a social media post. He wrote:

"I’m Coming to @nikepreclassic. Let’s go out with a [blast enoji]."

Another X handle confirmed that Lyles will be competing in the 100m race at the Diamond League Final. The 26-year-old had first won the 100m race at the championship in 2019.

---

Noah Lyles on winning the 100m race at the World Athletics Championships 2023

At the 2023 World Athletics Championships, Noah Lyles won a gold medal in the 100m race for the first time. He clocked a personal best of 9.83 seconds, leaving behind Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo and Britain’s Zharnel Hughes, who won the silver and bronze medals respectively.

After winning his first 100m gold medal, Lyles expressed his happiness at his achievement in a social media post.

"100m World Champion. They can doubt you, call you crazy, and even make fun of you but as long as you believe in yourself, that’s all that matters," he wrote.

As Noah Lyles won gold medals in the three events that he participated in — 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay — he became one of the rare athletes to score triple-triple after legends such as Maurice Greene (1999), Tyson Gay (2007), and Usain Bolt ( 2009, 2013, 2015.)