"He's put a fire under my belly" - Noah Lyles issues strong message for Christian Coleman in light of heated rivalry in indoor season

Noah Lyles acknowledged he wasn't friends with compatriot Christian Coleman following the heated 60m rivalry between the pair in the 2024 indoor season. The Olympic champion managed to beat Coleman at the U.S. Championships but lost the indoor world title to him in Glasgow.

Lyles started his season early at the New Balance Grand Prix in February. He was impressive in his first race of the season, taking the 60m title in 6.44s. The 24-year-old continued the momentum at the U.S. Indoor Championships, beating Coleman, who holds the 60m world record, in a personal best time of 6.43s.

However, the 27-year-old fell short at the World Indoor Championships as Coleman ran a blistering 6.41s to win the 60m title. While Lyles settled for silver in 6.44s, he still has the fire in his belly to beat the 60m world record holder again.

Weighing in on the defeat in season 2 of Netflix's SPRINT docuseries, Lyles said:

"He's definitely put a fire under my belly. I'll tell you that."

"I came more to his playground than he came to mine. His event was mainly the 100m, mine was 200m. I wouldn't say we're friends," he added.

The pair indirectly took digs at each other during the season with Coleman once walking away from an interview after being asked about Lyles.

"I have known Noah for a long time. I honestly try not to buy into other people's antics. That's just not really me, I'm not that type of guy," Coleman said (as recounted in the docuseries).

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Noah Lyles beats YouTube streamer IShowSpeed in a 50m race

2024 Summer Olympics - Noah Lyles in action - Source: Getty

YouTube streamer IShowSpeed recently challenged Noah Lyles for a sprint race, with the pair eventually racing for $100k over the 50m distance on November 7.

Speed, whose original name is Darren Watkins Jr., got off faster than Lyles when another YouTuber, MrBeast, fired the starting gun. However, the American caught him by the 25m mark and showboated heavily on his way to winning the race.

While Lyles had clearly won, Speed argued that the race was close and demanded a rematch. The 27-year-old declined the request but presented another offer.

"You should practice with me and then at the end of the week, we'll race again. You'll be faster, you'll know what to do, you'll have the techniques, you'll have the advantage. Then we can run the real man's race, the 100 (meters)," Noah Lyles told the streamer. (via USA Today)

While IShowSpeed didn't accept Lyles' offer, he claimed the American didn't want to race again because he knew he would lose.