Noah Lyles eyes Olympic sprint quadruple
CLERMONT, Fla. – On the heels of winning three gold medals at the 2023 track and field world championships, Noah Lyles has dreams of achieving the sprint quadruple in Paris.
Lyles, who specializes in the 100 and 200 meters, would like to compete in the two short sprints in addition to the 4x100 and 4x400 relays at the Paris Summer Olympics. Lyles showcased his 400 skills at the indoor world championships in Glasgow, Scotland, on Sunday when he was a part of Team USA’s silver medal winning 4x400 relay team. He also finished second in the 60. Both events aren’t his strong suit.
“That’s right. I want to do all that. Last year I did the double. This year we’ve gone very strong in the weight room and it’s been able to give me the ability to handle more load. I think I was able to prove that when we went over to Glasgow,” Lyles said in an interview with USA TODAY Sports on Wednesday. “I was able to run three rounds in the 60 in one day, get one day break and come run the 4x400 relay after that. Two completely different races and very little time to prepare for them. I just feel like every time I step up to a new challenge, my body responds to it.”
Lyles is the reigning world champ in the 100 and 200 and the U.S. record holder in the 200. But he received some criticism for being allowed to run the 4x400 relay at the indoor world championships.
Lyles isn’t a complete 400 novice. In fact, he has the event in his blood. His mother, Keisha Caine Bishop, and father, Kevin Lyles, were accomplished 400 runners. They competed at Seton Hall University.
Caine Bishop supports Lyles’ dream of running in four events in Paris, but in typical motherly fashion she wants her son to prioritize listening to his body and health. “If he wants to, as long as after all those rounds, his body is OK,” Caine Bishop told USA TODAY Sports. “It’s so many rounds, plus the 4x100-relay.”
There are traditionally four rounds in the 100 and the 200 (heats, quarterfinals, semifinals and finals). Lyles would have to be prepared to run at least on 10 different occasions if he added both relays to his Olympic event itinerary, a daunting challenge even for a premiere and conditioned athlete like Lyles.
Lyles’ coach, Lance Brauman, is more diplomatic when it comes to his star athlete expanding his repertoire to the 4x400 relay, but he admitted that Lyles has 400 meter range.
“In my system and how we train here, sprinters sprint. You train where you can run anything from 100 meters to 400 meters. But the emphasis for him is the 100 and 200 meters,” Brauman said. “Anything that comes with the relay is a country decision. Like I told him, that should be something that you do for fun. Our job is to be a 100 and 200 meter sprinter. And that’s where my focus is. … I just need him to make the team first.”
The U.S. Olympic Team Trials are in June.