Noah Lyles gives “Bolt-like” show, breaks 60m record and goes for all Olympic medals

Almost 7 years later Usain Bolt decided to retire from professional athletics, speed has a new full owner: Noah Lyles. The American is not only the fastest man in the world right now, but he is also a camera-seeking star and generates applause in every stadium he steps on. His last performance was this Sunday, at New Balance Indoor Boston Grand Prixwhere he surpassed other athletes in his performance and also in his statements.

“I just improved my 60 meters, the worst part of my career. It’s dangerous,” the 26-year-old sprinter said recently after winning the 60m final with a mark of 6.44 seconds, the meeting record.

But Lyles isn’t all about speed. He is a daring character in the media, with an air of superiority that can be provocative, but capable of attracting an audience eager for new figures.

“I think about 2022, when I did a personal best and achieved an American record, and last year when I did a personal best in this competition and became a three-time world champion,” Lyles recalled in in front of a stadium full of fans. , and warned : “Do you know what this means? That we are going for everything: all the Olympic medals.”

Lyles is no stranger to athletics. He climbed to the top of the world sport in 2023, when he won three gold medals in Budapest World Championshipsin the 100m, 200m and 4x100m trials.

But it still hasn’t reached the ceiling. Noah knows full well that if he wants to become the greatest sprinter ever, he has to surpass the greatest figure that athletics has produced in recent decades: Usain Bolt.

The Jamaican left an indelible mark both for his records, which still stand in the 100m and 200m, and for his role as showman. Bolt knows how to win over the public with his amazing races but also with his provocative attitude, which sometimes crosses the line of arrogance.

Noah Lyles, for his part, seems to be following Bolt’s manual to a T. At a competitive level, the North American already holds the national record for 200m (19.31), ended the year 2023 with the fastest record of 100m (9.83) and started in 2024 as the leader in 60m.

But he knows that to reach the top is not enough to win world championships; He should show his talent at the Olympic Games. So far, he has just won a bronze medal in the 200m at the Japan Games. but Paris 2024 This may be the event that catapults him to the Olympus of athletics.

The media side is handling it perfectly. He has his own YouTube content channel, works at a creative agency and collaborates with all kinds of brands. Even Netflix has targeted him to produce a new series about athletics that will start this year.

Athletics has found a new figure, a new talent that knows how to combine sporting excellence with entertainment. And this is good news, because it will allow more people to get closer to this sport, as Bolt did at the time.