"That’s sexual harassment" - Noah Lyles makes his feelings known on Grant Holloway questioning Chinese culture ahead of World Indoors

Noah Lyles made his feelings known when his fellow track athlete, Grant Holloway shared an anecdote about a Chinese person touching him at the 2025 World Indoor Championships. The Indoor Worlds kicked off in Nanjing, China on March 20 and will run through March 23, 2025.

While Noah Lyles sat out of the 2025 World Indoor edition, Grant Holloway jetted off to China to defend his 60m hurdles title. The latter, who bagged his first Olympic gold in the 110m hurdles in Paris, will look to maintain his indoor win streak at the World Indoors.

However, things turned sour for him before the competition got underway. He shared a post on his X handle, addressing the inappropriate behavior of a Chinese person, who touched his buttocks and passed a comment.

"I think Chinese culture is great, but they have a different concept of personal space. A man touched my a** while we were taking a picture and commented "mmm very muscular." I didn't know how to respond, so I just froze. Anyway, I suppose it's a compliment to be considered fit. #WorldIndoorChamps," the Olympian wrote.

The post evoked Noah Lyles' reaction, who shared the post and wrote:

"Nah, that’s sexual harassment and dehumanizing."

Lyles, who now hosts the 'Beyond The Records' podcast with Holloway, was also part of the 2024 Paris Olympics. He won his first gold in the 100m and settled for bronze in the 200m. Before the latter event, he was diagnosed with COVID-19 which sat him out of the 4x100m relay feat.

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Noah Lyles explained the reason behind missing the 2025 World Indoor Championships in China

Lyles at the Olympic Games-Paris 2024 - (Source: Getty)

Noah Lyles opened the 2025 season with a 60m win at the RADD Invitational in Gainesville, Florida. Lyles then took the track at the New Balance Grand Prix, racking up another 60m win in 6.52s. After the latter feat, Lyles shared he would miss the World Indoors in China to focus more on outdoor events later this year.

"World Championships is in September and to be honest I think there's a lot of things that I could fill my schedule up with later, in the middle of the season. And by not going to indoor, which is all the way in China, which I'm not trying to take that long of a trip, you know it saves me a lot of time to prepare for that moment,” he said.

Lyles won six World gold medals and a silver across his career. At the 2023 World Championships, he achieved a three-peat by clinching the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay gold.