Quincy Hall teases Noah Lyles’ $15K race talk but applauds his effort in 400m professional debut

Quincy Hall recently made a humorous remark about Noah Lyles' 400m professional debut. While teasing the World Champion about his $15k race talk, he also showed his appreciation for the latter's willingness to compete in a new distance.

After a strong showing in the indoor season, where he won his third consecutive New Balance Indoor Grand Prix title, Lyles kicked off his 2025 outdoor season with a 400m race at the Tom Jones Memorial. This marked the American’s first professional race over the distance, and while he clocked a brand new personal best of 45.87s, he ended up placing an unimpressive 14th in a field of 26 runners.

Reacting to Lyles' season opening 400m, an X user recalled the controversial moment last year, when the 100m Olympic champion had picked himself over Quincy Hall when naming his dream 4x400 relay team, writing,

“Noah really said he'd put himself on the 4x4 at the Olympics over Quincy Hall😭🕊️.”

In response to this, Hall took a subtle dig at Noah Lyles and his $15k race challenge, but praised the sprinter for his willingness to step out onto the track and race, writing:

“Then had the nerve to say at the olympics we can race for 15k 😂😂 I ain’t talking smack tho cause he went out there and raced 💯💯most people wouldn’t even step out there so hats off to him 💯🐎.”

At the Tom Jones Memorial, it was Christopher Robinson who clinched the win in the 400m race, clocking a 44.15s that placed him more than a second ahead of Lyles.

A timeline of Noah Lyles and Quincy Hall's banter

Lyles at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix (Image Source: Getty)

The back and forth between Noah Lyles and Quincy Hall first began in July 2024. In an appearance on the Track World News podcast, Lyles named his dream 4x400m relay team for the Paris Olympics, choosing Chris Bailey, Michael Norman, Rai Benjamin, and himself for the task.

The glaring omission from the team was Quincy Hall, who was the reigning US champion in the distance at the time. Responding to Lyles' snub, Hall wrote in a now-deleted post on X:

“I don’t bother nobody but my blocks ready anytime you feel like you can beat me in the 400 you was talking (too) much on my name on (your) little podcast. I don’t do the little slick comments and remarks, I line up.”

Eventually, at the Paris Olympics, Noah Lyles stuck to his strengths. The sprinter competed in the 100m and 200m distances, winning gold in the former and bronze in the latter. On the other hand, Quincy Hall was crowned the 400m champion, and his victory even drew praise from Lyles himself.