"He's coming to break the WR"; "Kishane got him putting in extra hours"- Fans react to Noah Lyles pulling out from Monaco Diamond League 

American sprinter Noah Lyles recently withdrew from the Monaco Diamond League, which was supposed to be his last 200m race before the Paris Olympics 2024. The world champion claimed he wanted to spend more time on training and hence pulled out.

Fans online had a few different theories, with some suggesting the "real" reason was Kishane Thompson. He has been running some fast times over the last month.

Thompson ran a world-leading 9.77s at the Jamaica Olympic Trials before running an easy 9.91s at Gyulai Istvan Memorial in July. Lyles, on the other hand, has a personal best of 9.83s, and to win the 100m gold in Paris, he might need to be faster.

The world champion was slated to run 200m at the Monaco Diamond League but withdrew on July 10, two days before the competition. He claimed he wanted to keep himself ‘in the best possible position to succeed in Paris’.

Fans online expressed varying opinions, with some claiming Kishane is making Lyles train more.

"Kishane got him putting in extra hours," a fan commented.

"He saw that dude from Jamaica and said we gotta lock in lol," another fan commented.

"His competitors have a psychological impact on him. Somewhat reminiscent of when he heard that Erriyon Knighton ran that 19.49 seconds," a user noted.

In 2022, Lyles said that after he heard Erriyon Knighton had run 19.49s, he decided to cancel his dinner plans and work harder. Guess what happened after that? Lyles became the second fastest man of all time, running 19.31s at the World Championships. Can he pull something similar this year?

"My guy don vex. You all better be ready for him in Paris, he's coming to break the WR", a fan wrote.

"Say what you want but he's real. Bro gonna speak how he truly feels, no excuses or ntn. He'll be ready for Olympics. Very good for the sport", another fan wrote.

"Damn NOAH hardly ever drops out of a meet!! But the #ParisOlympics is serious and training is important so I GET IT," a user commented.

Who else is a threat to Noah Lyles’ 100m Olympic gold ambition?

Noah Lyles won bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (IMAGE: GETTY)

Lyles is a hot favorite for the 200m run and has admitted multiple times that he won't be worried about that event. However, 100m will be a concern for the 26-year-old, more so after Thompson's blistering runs recently.

Thompson isn't the only competition though. Oblique Seville beat Lyles at the Racers Grand Prix, clocking 9.82 to the American's 9.85. Letsile Tebogo will be another name in Noah’s mind, especially after his performance at Gyulai Istvan Memorial, where he jogged in the last part of the race to finish behind Thompson in 9.99s. It marked the African's fastest time of the season, but he looked to be in low 9.8s shape.

Fellow Americans Fred Kerley and Kenny Bednarek will also pose a threat to Lyles, with both finishing very close to him in the 100m finals at trials. Now that the world champion has decided to train more, he will know he might have to run under 9.7s to win the gold in Paris. Will he? An intriguing question indeed.