Wannabe rap star Lyles seeks birthday tonic
We’re watching a lot of people shifting over, younger guys taking over from the older veterans
monaco — Wannabe rap star Noah Lyles will bid to celebrate his 21st birthday by winning the 200m at Friday’s Diamond League meet in Monaco and further confirming his place at the forefront of a new generation of sprinters.
Lyles, who turned 21 on Wednesday, has not been home for his birthday since 2013, testament to his dedication to a track and field career that has seen him clock bests of 9.88 and 19.69 seconds in the 100 and 200m respectively.
In the absence of the now-retired Jamaican Usain Bolt, Lyles’ bubbly, open persona is welcomed like gold dust by meet organisers.
Along with the likes of Chris Coleman and Rai Benjamin, Lyles is part of what he dubbed a “very strong moment that’s happening right now”. “We’re watching a lot of people shifting over, younger guys taking over from the older veterans,” said the Florida native, who set a 300m indoor world record of 31.87sec at last year’s US indoor champs.
“It’s something exciting to be part of it because I’ve been watching this happen for a few years, and I felt like there was a gap when that didn’t happen and now it is really happening.
“I’m really happy to be one of the forefront runners of that generation that’s pushing to be the best.”
But unlike Bolt’s decade-long dominance, Lyles reckons that it’s unlikely that one athlete will take over his mantle.
“I don’t think that it’s going to be one of those sports where it actually is going to be dominated by one person,” he argued.
“I think we’ll actually have a lot of very fast runners, I don’t think there’ll be one dominant runner, but I do want to be the forefront runner of those dominant people!” Lyles most recently finished third in the 100m in Rabat, after winning the 200m in previous Diamond League meets in Doha, Eugene and Lausanne, where he treated the spectators to a pre-race dance. “It’s really cool because now I have a fanbase which knows I like to dance and there were cheering me on,” he beamed. —
Noah Lyles