"They don't even know his personal best time" - Justin Gatlin credits Noah Lyles' massive popularity to Tyreek Hill and NBA beefs

Former Olympic champion Justin Gatlin recently stated that Noah Lyles' massive social media following is highly influenced by his periodic controversies, including the recent one with Tyreek Hill and last year's NBA incident. Gatlin mentioned that many of Lyles' followers may not even be aware of his personal best times.

Lyles won his maiden Olympic gold medal at the Paris Olympics, where he won the 100m in a photo finish against Kishane Thompson after clocking a time of 9.79 seconds. The 27-year-old also secured the bronze medal in the 200m.

Following that, he engaged in a war of words with Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill, where Hill challenged him to a race after his remarks on American sports leagues. It all started when Lyles became the triple world champion at the 2023 World Athletics Championships, and he questioned NBA champions for labeling themselves as the world champions given that the competition was limited to American teams. His statements also drew criticism from some fans and NBA athletes.

Justin Gatlin, during the latest episode of the Ready Set Go podcast, said that all of Noah Lyles' controversies with the NBA and Tyreek Hill have earned him followers on his social media platforms as fans remain intrigued by what he might say next. Gatlin also noted that most of his followers likely wouldn't even know his best times in events.

"You look at athletes who are in our game right now who have elevated their social media platforms and they have millions of followers now," Gatlin said. "Look at what Noah has right? It's a fact of a lot of those people who are there, trust me bro, they don't even know Noah's personal time in the 200." [37:20 onwards]

"They follow him because of his personality, they're waiting what he will say next. More people know what he said to the NBA and to Tyreek then they know his PR," Gatlin added.

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"Noah Lyles right now has so much to choose from" - Justin Gatlin heaps praise on the American sprinter

Noah Lyels pictured at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 (Image via Getty)

Justin Gatlin applauded Noah Lyles for his performance at the Paris Olympics and emphasized that the Florida native should back himself to replicate the same in the 200m as well.

"Noah right now has so much to choose from going into 2025," Gatlin said. "I mean he's the world champion in the 100m. He backed up and became the Olympic champion at 100m. He's also the world champion at 200m. He ran 19.30." (via Ready Set Go podcast)

"What do you do now right going into the world championships? Do you defend your 200m title? Do you defend your 100m title? Do you try to defend both? " he added.

Gatlin further expressed that he hopes to see Noah Lyles do the same in the future as he did at the World Championships.