"It's hard to go through life and not be heard" - Noah Lyles after being awarded USATF's Male Athlete of the Year

On Saturday night, Noah Lyles clinched his third Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year award by the USA Track & Field (USATF) for his stunning performances in 2023. This makes him only the second person to achieve this feat, having previously taken the trophy home in 2018 and 2022.

Lyles, who clinched three gold medals at the 2023 Budapest World Athletics Championships, has been known for his larger than life personality, on and off the field. The 26-year-old often finds himself at the center of media attention and has been credited with bringing in a whole new legion of fans to the sport.

Noah, who has been vocal about wanting to add more flair and flourish to the track, started his speech by saying that he wanted to transcend the sport.

"I told my agent when we first met that I want to transcend the sport, whether that's doing walk-ins, whether that's telling the NBA they ain't World Champions (yeah they didn't like that), whether that's having uncomfortable conversations with NFL players, with other track and field athletes, whether it's giving flowers to people who deserve it. I believe that each and every one of you who came up here definitely deserved it," Lyles said.

On a slightly more serious note, Lyles said he hoped that everyone present was able to find a way to make their story heard.

"It's hard to go along and not have your story be heard. Somebody asked me what's one of my biggest fears and what the thing that gets me the baddest - it's me not being heard. It's hard to go through life and not be heard. And I know that everybody here has a story to tell, I just wanna see y'all tell it, I wanna see you do it," he said.

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Noah Lyles' mission to reinvent athletics

Noah Lyles has regularly stunned audiences across the globe with his awe-inspiring performances on the track, which include becoming the first man since Usain Bolt to win the 100m and 200m at the same World Championships.

However, the American is equally well-known for his adventures off the track, encompassing things like appearances at the Met Gala.

In fact, Lyles has recently been on a mission to introduce the concept of "walk-ins" to athletics, having taken the cue from the NBA and NFL.

In February this year, Noah Lyles showed up to the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix dressed in a bold black outfit. He was joined by Trayvon Bromell and Aleia Hobbs, who sported snakeskin pants and a white puffer coat respectively.

Lyles repeated this a week later at the Millrose Games in New York, before organizing a full-fledged event in May complete with meet directors, proper changing areas, directed photographers and more, to mark the beginning of something new in the world of athletics.

Noah Lyles also has a docu-series on Peacock, a YouTube podcast, a partnership with Omega and many more things that make him one of the most prominent athletes to emerge from the world of track and field recently.