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Noah Lyles (born July 18, 1997) is an American track and field sprinter who competes in the 60 meters, 100 meters and 200 meters events. His personal best of 19.31 seconds in the 200m is the American record, and makes him the third fastest of all-time. He is an Olympic champion and six-time World champion.
In the 100 m, Lyles won the gold medal at the 2024 Olympic Games, is three-time world champion (4 x 100 m relay in 2019, 100 m and 4 × 100 m relay events in 2023), and was a 100 m and 4 × 100 m relay gold medalist at the 2016 World U20 Championships.
In the 200 m, Lyles is a three-time world champion (2019, 2022, 2023) and is the bronze medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games. He also won a gold medal in the 2014 Youth Olympic Games.
Lyles completed a sprint treble by winning gold medals in the 100-meter, 200-meter and 4x100-meter events at the 2023 World Championships.[10]
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Lyles was born on July 18, 1997,[11] to Keisha Caine Bishop and Kevin Lyles, in Gainesville, Florida.[12][13] His parents met as students at Seton Hall University, where they both competed in track and field.[14][15][16] He has two siblings, Josephus and Abby. After their parents’ divorce, Lyles and his siblings relocated with their mother to Alexandria, Virginia.
Lyles was homeschooled during his early years while growing up with asthma, but was later able to attend public school.[17]
Originally a gymnast, Lyles took up track and field at age 12.[18] While watching the 2012 Summer Olympics on TV, he and his brother declared their intention to run together at the 2016 Summer Games.[19] Lyles attended T. C. Williams High School (now Alexandria City High School).
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Lyles represented the United States at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games where he won a gold medal in the 200 m.[20][21]
In January 2015, Lyles cleared 2.03 m (6 ft 7+3⁄4 in) in the high jump as a high school junior. In November 2015, he was named 2015 high school boys athlete of the year by Track & Field News.
In March 2016, Lyles won the 200 m at the New Balance Nationals Indoor. In April 2016, he won both the 100 m and 200 m at the 2016 Arcadia Invitational, setting new meeting records of 10.17 s and 20.48 s respectively.[22][23] In June 2016, Lyles won the 100 m in 10.08 s at the USA Junior Championships.[24]
In July 2016, Lyles went to the U.S. Olympic Trials to compete for spots on the Olympic team in the 100 m and the 200 m. He failed to advance from his first 100 m heat, but in the 200 m he won his semi-final and then placed fourth in the final with a time of 20.09 s, breaking a 31-year-old national high school record.[25][26][27] Though he didn't qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics, he qualified for the 2016 World U20 Championships where he was a double gold medalist, taking the 100 m and 4 × 100 m relay titles.[28][29]
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Lyles had committed to compete for the Florida Gators at the University of Florida, but in July 2016, Noah and his younger brother Josephus instead turned professional and signed with Adidas.[5][30] In November 2016, Lyles was again named high school boys athlete of the year for 2016 by Track & Field News.
Lyles started 2017 with his first senior national title in the 300 m at the 2017 USA Indoor Championships in the thin air of Albuquerque, New Mexico, improving the indoor world record by one hundredth of a second to 31.87 s.[31][32] He earned a silver medal in the 4 × 200-meter relay with team USA at the 2017 World Relays. Lyles won two meets in the 2017 IAAF Diamond League circuit, winning the final ahead of American champion Ameer Webb and world champion Ramil Guliyev. However, injuries prevented him from competing much of the season and he missed the 2017 World Championships as a result.
2018
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Lyles returned to Albuquerque to compete at the 2018 USA Indoor Championships, but in the 60-meter dash instead of the 300 m. He made it through his first heat while equaling his personal best time of 6.57 s, but failed to advance through his semi-final. Having failed to make the national team for the 2018 World Indoor Championships, he turned his focus to preparing for the outdoor season. He opened with a win in the 200 m at the IAAF Diamond League Doha meet, setting a new personal best with a time of 19.83 s. A few weeks later he ran the less common 150 m at the adidas Boston Games, winning in a personal best time of 14.77 s.[33] He returned to the 200 m at the IAAF Diamond League in Eugene, winning and improving his personal best time to 19.69 s. This time matched the world leading time set by Clarence Munyai earlier that year.[34][35]
At the 2018 USA Championships he focused on the 100 m instead, matching the world lead of 9.89 s in the semi-final. Mike Rodgers had set the world lead a day before in a separate heat, but he did not start in the semi-finals. This left Lyles' primary rival to be Ronnie Baker, who had run the 100 m in 9.78 s at the Prefontaine Classic earlier that year, but with a wind velocity just over the allowable limit for record purposes (+2.4 m/s).[34] In the final Baker got out a few meters ahead of Lyles out of the blocks, but Lyles started to come back halfway through the race and just passed Baker in the last meter to win in 9.88 s, a new world lead and personal best time for Lyles.[36][37] He became the youngest U.S. champion in the 100 m since Sam Graddy won in 1984.[38]
Lyles world lead in the 100 m would later be beaten by Baker (9.87 s) and then Christian Coleman (9.79 s), but at the Herculis IAAF Diamond League meet in Monaco Lyles set a new 200 m world lead and personal best time in 19.65 s. The time placed him in the top-10 fastest men in the 200 m of all time.[39][40] Before that Lyles equaled his personal best and world lead at the Athletissima IAAF Diamond League meet to win a greatly anticipated showdown against Michael Norman, who had set the indoor world record in the 400-meter dash earlier that year.[35][41][42] Lyles went into the IAAF Diamond League final, the Weltklasse Zürich, as the favorite. He was again matched up against world champion Ramil Guliyev who recently also become European champion, setting a personal best of 19.76 s in the process.[43] The two were placed in adjacent lanes and ran evenly through the bend, but Lyles started to pull away on the straight and finished in 19.67 s.[44] It was his fourth time under 19.70 s in the same season. Only one other individual has been under 19.70 s four times in a career, world record holder Usain Bolt who also did it four times during his record-breaking 2009 season.[45]
2019
In 2019, Lyles opened the season by running 100 meters races, running a 9.86 (+0.9) world leader in Shanghai on May 18. In his first 200-meter race, at the Pietro Mennea Golden Gala meet, he equalled Mennea's long standing 1979 world record time running a 19.72 (+0.7). A month later at Athletissima in Lausanne, he dropped his personal best to 19.50 (−0.1) to move into the number four position on the all time list.[46] A week later he ran a 9.92 (+0.3) 100 in Monaco. With the extended schedule in 2019, he ran the US National Championships at the end of July, taking the 200-meter title in 19.78 (−0.7) into a headwind in Des Moines. Then in Paris he ran 19.65 (+0.2).
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Lyles won gold medals in the 200 m and the 4 × 100 m relay at the 2019 World Athletics Championships held in Doha, Qatar.[47]
2022 to present
On July 21, 2022, during the World Athletics Championships on home soil in Eugene, Oregon, Lyles claimed his second global title in the 200 m and surpassed Michael Johnson's long standing national record of 19.32 by running 19.31, which moved him to third on the world all-time list.[48] Lyles went on to be part of the silver-winning team in the 4x100 m relay, where they were narrowly beaten by Canada.[49] He capped his fine season in the Zürich Diamond League final with victory in 200 m, securing his fourth Diamond Trophy over the distance and fifth overall. Lyles was undefeated in his specialist event that year, breaking 20 seconds in all 12 of his races, including heats and finals.[50]
At the 2023 World Athletics Championships held in Budapest, Lyles won the 100m with a personal best of 9.83.[51] Lyles went on to also win gold in the 200-meters with a time of 19.52s.[52] This was his third title in the 200 m and fifth overall in the World Athletics Championships. With his three 200 m world champion titles, he surpassed Michael Johnson (2) and Calvin Smith (2) and this moved him to second on the world all-time list for World Championship 200m titles, only behind Usain Bolt with four titles.
On 9 June 2024, Lyles clocked 19.77 seconds for 200m in New York City into a headwind of 1.6 m/s.[53] As of 16 September 2024, this is the fastest time into such a strong headwind.
Lyles set a new 100m personal best time of 9.81 s at the London Diamond League on July 20, 2024.[54] He won the 100 m at the 2024 Olympics with a new personal best of 9.784, giving a 0.005 second margin over Jamaica's Kishane Thompson (9.789). It was the first US victory in the event since 2004.[55] The race was so close that Leigh Diffey calling the race for American NBC Sports prematurely declared Thompson the winner.[56][57]
Lyles' next event was the 200m, in which he got the bronze medal with a time of 19.70, behind Letsile Tebogo and Kenny Bednarek.[58] Following the event, he collapsed on the track and was taken off in a wheelchair. It was later confirmed that Lyles had tested positive for COVID-19 two days prior, which affected his performance.[59] He later stated he would not run in the 4x100m or 4x400m relay races.[60]
In November 2024, Lyles won an exhibition 50 meter race against content creator IShowSpeed for $100,000. The race was organized and refereed by MrBeast.[61]
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Lyles has posted on X that he has asthma, allergies, dyslexia, ADD, anxiety, and depression.[62]
He is also an anime fan, and has been seen carrying Yu-Gi-Oh cards during competitions.
His girlfriend is Jamaican track and field athlete Junelle Bromfield. In October 2024, Lyles and Bromfield got engaged.[63]
Information from World Athletics profile unless otherwise noted.[11]
Personal bests
| Event | Mark | Wind (m/s) | Location | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 m | 9.79 | +1.0 | Paris, France | August 4, 2024 | [64] |
| 150 m | 14.41 | +0.3 | Atlanta, United States | May 18, 2024 | t-2nd of all time, t-American record |
| 200 m | 19.31 | +0.4 | Eugene, United States | July 21, 2022 | WL NR, third fastest in history |
| 400 m | 47.04 | — | Forestville, United States | April 23, 2016 | |
| 4 × 100 m relay | 37.10 | — | Doha, Qatar | October 5, 2019 | WL NR, 2nd of all-time |
| 4 × 200 m relay | 1:19.88 | — | Nassau, Bahamas | April 23, 2017 | |
| 60 m indoor | 6.43 A | — | Albuquerque, United States | February 17, 2024 | Altitude-assisted[65] |
| 200 m indoor | 20.63 | — | New York, United States | March 13, 2016 | |
| 300 m indoor | 31.87 A | — | Albuquerque, United States | March 4, 2017 | Altitude-assisted[65] |
| High jump indoor | 2.03 m | — | Blacksburg, United States | January 31, 2015 |
Lyles has broken 20 seconds for 200 metres forty times without wind assistance --- more than any other athlete. He achieved this feat on 8 August 2024 in the Olympic final. [66]
International competitions
| Year | Competition | Host | Position | Event | Time | Wind (m/s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | World Youth Championships | Donetsk, Ukraine | 9th | 200 m | 21.58 | -2.5 | |
| 2nd | Medley relay | 1:50.14 | — | PB | |||
| 2014 | Youth Olympic Games | Nanjing, China | 1st | 200 m | 20.80 | +0.3 | |
| 2015 | Pan American U20 Championships | Edmonton, Canada | 2nd | 100 m | 10.18 | +0.4 | |
| 1st | 200 m | 20.27 | +1.3 | ||||
| 2016 | World U20 Championships | Bydgoszcz, Poland | 1st | 100 m | 10.17 | -0.2 | SB |
| 1st | 4 × 100 m relay | 38.93 | — | PB | |||
| 2017 | World Relays | Nassau, Bahamas | 2nd | 4 × 200 m relay | 1:19.88 | — | PB |
| 2018 | Continental Cup | Ostrava, Czech Republic | 1st | 100 m | 10.01 | 0.0 | |
| 1st | 4 × 100 m relay | 38.05 | — | PB | |||
| 2019 | World Relays | Yokohama, Japan | 2nd | 4 × 100 m relay | 38.07 | — | |
| World Championships | Doha, Qatar | 1st | 200 m | 19.83 | +0.3 | ||
| 1st | 4 × 100 m relay | 37.10 | — | WL NR, 2nd all time | |||
| 2021 | Olympic Games | Tokyo, Japan | 3rd | 200 m | 19.74 | -0.5 | =SB |
| 2022 | World Championships | Eugene, United States | 1st | 200 m | 19.31 | +0.4 | WL NR, 3rd all time |
| 2nd | 4 × 100 m relay | 37.55 | — | ||||
| 2023 | World Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 1st | 100 m | 9.83 | 0.0 | WL PB |
| 1st | 200 m | 19.52 | –0.2 | ||||
| 1st | 4 × 100 m relay | 37.38 | — | ||||
| 2024 | World Indoor Championships | Glasgow, United Kingdom | 2nd | 60 m | 6.44 | — | |
| 2nd | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:02.60 | — | ||||
| World Relays | Nassau, Bahamas | 1st | 4 × 100 m relay | 37.40 | — | WL | |
| Olympic Games | Paris, France | 1st | 100 m | 9.79 (.784) | +1.0 | PB | |
| 3rd | 200 m | 19.70 | +0.4 |
Circuit wins and titles
- 200 meters wins, other events specified in parentheses
- 2017 (2): Shanghai Diamond League (=WL PB), Brussels Memorial Van Damme
- 2018 (5): Doha Diamond League (MR PB), Eugene Prefontaine Classic (PB), Lausanne Athletissima (WL PB), Monaco Herculis (WL MR PB), Zürich Weltklasse
- 2019 (5): Shanghai (100m, WL PB), Lausanne (WL MR PB), Paris Meeting (MR), Zürich (100m), Brussels
- 2020 (1): Monaco (WL)
- 2021 (1): Eugene (WL MR)
- 2022 (4): Doha, Monaco (MR), Lausanne, Zürich (MR)
- 2023 (3): Paris (100m), London (WL MR),[67] Zürich
National championships
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Time | Wind (m/s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | U.S. World Youth Trials | Edwardsville, Illinois | 3rd | 200 m | 21.62 | −3.9 | |
| 2015 | USATF U20 Championships | Eugene, Oregon | 1st | 100 m | 10.14 | +2.0 | PB |
| 1st | 100 m | 10.18 | +1.8 | PB | |||
| 2016 | USATF U20 Championships | Clovis, California | 1st | 100 m | 10.08 w | +2.2 | Wind-assisted |
| U.S. Olympic Trials | Eugene, Oregon | 22nd | 100 m | 10.16 | +1.8 | SB[68] | |
| 4th | 200 m | 20.09 | +1.6 | PB | |||
| 2017 | USATF Indoor Championships | Albuquerque, New Mexico | 1st | 300 m | 31.87 A | — | Altitude assisted, WB |
| USATF Championships | Sacramento, California | 4th (heats) | 200 m | 20.54 | −2.5 | Q[note 2] | |
| 2018 | USATF Indoor Championships | Albuquerque, New Mexico | 9th | 60 m | 6.59 A | — | Altitude-assisted[70] |
| USATF Championships | Des Moines, Iowa | 1st | 100 m | 9.88 | +1.1 | WL PB | |
| 2019 | USATF Championships | Des Moines, Iowa | 1st | 200 m | 19.78 | −0.7 | |
| 2021 | U.S. Olympic Trials | Eugene, Oregon | 7th | 100 m | 10.05 | +0.8 | |
| 1st | 200 m | 19.74 | +0.3 | WL | |||
| 2022 | USATF Championships | Eugene, Oregon | 1st | 200 m | 19.67 | −0.3 | |
| 2023 | USATF Championships | Eugene, Oregon | 3rd | 100 m | 10.00 | +0.1 | |
| 2024 | USATF Championships | Albuquerque, New Mexico | 1st | 60m | 6.43 A | — | Altitude-assisted,[71] WL PB |
Season's bests
w = wind-assisted (wind velocity more than +2.0 m/s)
|
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Honors and awards
- Sportsman of the Year: 2024 Nominee[78]
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