"I don't want anybody to think that he is sitting down and watching" - Rodney Green and Justin Gatlin explain why Noah Lyles could be scary in 2025

Noah Lyles ended his 2024 season early after contracting COVID-19 at the Paris Olympics, while his biggest competitors in the 200m dash, Letsile Tebogo and Kenny Bednarek, kept clocking seriously fast times. However, track legends Justin Gatlin and Rodney Green are confident of Lyles' abilities and suggested that the 27-year-old could be even faster next year.

Lyles started his season early in February to strengthen his 100m runs by running 60m indoors. It paid off for the 27-year-old as he went on to win the coveted 100m title at the Paris Olympics, beating Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson by five-thousandths of a second.

Noah Lyles was backed as an overwhelming favorite for the 200m title as well before Letsile Tebogo and Kenny Bednarek beat him in the finals. Lyles announced after the finals that he had tested positive for COVID-19, and a few days later, he announced the end of his season as well.

As the American sprinter recovered from the illness, Bednarek and Tebogo kept dominating the circuit, consistently clocking times of 19.5s. However, track legends Justin Gatlin and Rodney Green believe that the Olympic champion wasn't just watching his competitors run fast times, he was preparing to beat them next year. Speaking via Ready Set Go on YouTube on October 7, Rodney Green said.

“I don't want anybody to think that Noah is sitting down and watching…He is preparing,” Green said [3:40]

Green recounted the incident from 2022 when Erriyonn Knighton ran 19.49s and after Lyles heard about it, he canceled his plans and went to practice.

Gatlin agreed with Green's perspective, adding:

“I tell you, he started that season off and that was Erriyonn Knighton's opening 200m, that tells you right there. Noah wasn't even thinking about running that fast just yet, he went home and levelled up and said 'Alright cool, this what we doing. I got to get ready for practice.'” [4:00]

Noah Lyles went on to break the American record in that season, running a blistering 19.31s to win the 200m world title. With Tebogo and Bednarek putting up a similar challenge for Lyles, the world could witness Lyles break more barriers in 2025.

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Justin Gatlin hailed Noah Lyles as the 'clutch' performer of 2024

Athletics - Olympic Games Paris 2024: Noah Lyles receives his 200m bronze medal- Source: Getty

The 100m title was deemed to be the hardest thing for Noah Lyles to win, both for his slow start and the tough competition from Jamaica. However, he rose to the occasion in a breathtaking final inside the Stade de France, snatching the win in the last second of the race from overwhelming favorite Kishane Thompson.

Lyles’ heroics earned him massive praise from 2004 100m Olympic champion Justin Gatlin, who called him the clutch performer of the 2024 season. Speaking on Ready Set Go on YouTube on September 25, Gatlin said:

"You knew [Kishane Thompson] he had something left in the tank and you still showed up to the line and gave it to your all, and you all got the job done bro. That's very clutch for me. A 100 percent,” he said [46:30 onwards]

Gatlin then picked Letsile Tebogo as the MVP of the season, who raced and won most in the season. The 200m Olympic champion broke the 300m world record as well at the start of the season