"Waiting for the right media to bring out the full story" - Noah Lyles on backlash faced over 200m performance at Paris Olympics

Noah Lyles recently opened up about receiving backlash during the Paris Olympics. The American sprinter concluded his quadrennial event with two medals, gold in the 100m and bronze in the 200m events.

The 26-year-old stood atop the podium in the 100m dash at the 2024 Summer Games by clocking 9.79s and bested his arch rivals, Jamaican athlete Kishane Thompson and American Fred Kerley, who recorded 9.79s and 9.81s, respectively. However, he could not fulfil his quest of winning gold in the 200m, as he finished third by clocking 19.70s. He was bested by Letsile Tebogo and Kenny Bednarek, who claimed first and second place, respectively.

Lyles, who aimed to win the sprint double in Paris, failed to attain his goal as he tested positive for COVID-19. In an interview with Forbes, the American sprinter shared that before the first round of the 100m dash, he wasn't "feeling like himself" both mentally and physically, and along with this, he was also informed about the funeral of his high school coach, Rashwan Jackson.

Following this, he was busy dealing with the loss of his coach and was isolating himself from the crowd to mentally prepare himself for the races. He opened up about the backlash he received from his fans for his 200m performance at the Paris Olympics.

"My therapist and I said we have to amp the body up so if it does get fatigued, you're at a high level and you have to ride that high as long as possible," said Lyles. "That’s how I’m going to try to run my best performances."

About the backlash from his fans, he added:

"Not everyone knows the full story. I’m waiting for the right media to bring out the full story.”

---

Noah Lyles opened up about his gold medal win at the Paris Olympics

Noah Lyles reflected upon his 100m dash at the Paris Olympics, stating that he manifested the win. Trusting his self-belief, the 27-year-old said he was shocked after seeing his name on the big screen in a media event at the Adidas House celebration. He said (as quoted by Olympics.com):

"You know, finally the name comes up and for a second there, I was almost shocked because I was like, this is not how I envisioned it," said Lyles. "But, you know, I believed it because I knew I was the champion. I just knew that it had to be me because I wasn’t going to make a mistake like that, not in this close of a race.”

Lyles now has a total of three Olympic medals, including a bronze medal that he won in 200m at the Tokyo Olympics and two medals that he clinched at the 2024 Paris Games.