A quadruple threat at this summer’s Olympics, Noah Lyles lives a life defined by a series of dizzying digits. Now, the world’s fastest man wants to spark a revolution in the sport.
“The American sprinter Noah Lyles was dancing at a club in Budapest in the summer of 2023, when he started receiving texts from friends, urging him to check his social media accounts. The Florida-born Olympian – the preeminent star of the world of track and field – had plenty to celebrate that night, after becoming the first athlete since Usain Bolt to win gold medals in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m races at the World Championships. His phone, however, wasn’t blowing up with heartfelt congratulations. Lyles was getting inundated with shady comments from NBA basketball players like Kevin Durant, and the league’s fierce defenders, like Drake.
“I thought it was funny!” says Lyles, when I ask what it felt like to experience an unexpected wave of wrath on a fun night out. The stir was caused by a comment he made in a press conference following his wins, about how ridiculous it is that North America’s National Basketball Association names its seasonal winners ‘world champions’. “It was just a bunch of whiny babies getting mad because I said they don’t compete on a world level. Everyone was in such a tizzy!” A snippet of Lyles discussing the subject went viral, spawning global headlines and inciting conversations on mainstream news and sports networks.”
Click here to read the cover story for Dazed’s Summer 2024 issue.
