"I did that not to embarrass you"- Noah Lyles makes stance clear on cutting down distance in race against Tyreek Hill

Noah Lyles expressed his thoughts on bringing down the racing distance from 100m in his upcoming race against Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill. The American athlete revealed that he agreed to compete over a distance between the 40 yards and the 100 m so that it would be convenient for the NFL player after Hill claimed that the Olympic gold medalist was afraid to compete in the 40-yard race.

The banter between the two athletes began post the Paris Olympics after Hill claimed he could defeat Lyles in a race. The Dolphins wide receiver took a dig at the Olympic champion for losing the top spot in the men's 200m finals, and since then they have been talking about competing against each other.

They confirmed their face-off in a joint exclusive interview with People magazine and are set to compete in Spring or Summer before Lyles prepares to participate in the U.S. National Championships in July this year. Tyreek Hill jokingly claimed that the Olympic Champion was scared of losing to him in the 40-yard race hence decided to bring about a change in the racing distance.

"He already knew he was gonna lose that off the jump," said Hill.

Noah Lyles shed light on his reason for agreeing to run a short distance of 40 yards in his face-off with Tyreek Hill instead of competing in the 100m.

"I did that not to embarrass you. I mean if it was 100 meters, it'd be a blowout, you know, we gotta meet in the middle," Lyles responded.

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What led to the banter between Noah Lyles and Tyreek Hill?

Lyles celebrates at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix - Source: Getty

Tyreek Hill spoke about Lyles' performance in the 200m finals at the Paris Olympics in an interview with Up and Adams show. The Dolphins wide receiver weighed in on Lyles' comments about NBA Champions calling themselves 'World Champions'.

He took a dig at the Olympic champion and asked him to speak about his sport and expressed his confidence in defeating Lyles in a race. Noah Lyles fired back at Hill's interview and refused to acknowledge him. Since then they have been raising anticipation among fans about competing against each other.

“Noah Lyles can't say nothing after what just happened to him. You know what I'm saying? Then he want to come out and pretend like he's sick. I feel like that's like horseradish. So, for him to do that and say that we're not world champions of like our sport, like come on, bro, just speak on what you know about," he said.

"You know what I'm saying? And that's track. I would beat Noah Lyles. No, I wouldn't beat him by a lot, but I would beat Noah Lyles,” he added.

Along with Hill, popular streamer IShowSpeed who ran a 50m race against Lyles after being challenged by MrBeast has called out the Olympic Champion to have a rematch.