Noah Lyles: "All the Olympic medals, I don't care who wants it, it's mine"
American athlete Noah Lyles cruised to a stunning 2024 season-opener after winning the 60m race at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix. On February 4, the 26-year-old athlete improved his personal best timing in 60m by just 0.07s. Moreover, Lyles expressed his drive to take on the Olympic medals in Paris later this year.
At the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix 2024, Noah Lyles clocked an impressive 6.44s. Previously, he ran his personal best at the same meet last year within a 6.51s time frame. Nevertheless, he left behind second-placed Ackeem Blake and third-placed Ronnie Baker. The Jamaican athlete clocked 6.45s whereas the American athlete’s timing was 6.54s.
In the aftermath of his victory, Noah Lyles drew parallels with his previous performances in the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix meets and how they indicate his 2024 Olympic win.
He told NBC Olympics and Paralympics in an interview,
“I’m just thinking about in 2022 when I PR’D and I ran an American record. I’m thinking about last year when I PR’D at this meet and I became the three-time world champion. Now I am looking at another major PR. Guess what that means….We coming after everything.. All the Olympic medals. I don’t care who wants it. It’s mine.”
Furthermore, the athlete was asked about how his indoor meet performance can impact his future outdoor meet timings. Lyles explained,
"All that people talk about is my start isn’t good. My acceleration isn’t good. Well, guess what? I just improved my 60m. The worst part of my race. It’s dangerous out here."
Noah Lyles plans to win four Olympic medals in Paris Olympics in 2024
Noah Lyles made history in the 2023 World Athletics Championships by winning three gold medals. He continued his dominance in the 200m race for the third time. Lyles also clinched gold in the 100m and 4x100m races. It made him a part of the triple-triple gold medals club which is already graced by legendary athletes like Usain Bolt and many others.
After the 2023 world championships, Noah Lyles was aiming to bag three gold medals in the upcoming Olympics. However, he recently decided to target not three but four gold medals.
In 2023, Lyles made headlines announcing his participation in the 4x400m race. He told World Athletics in an interview that “a close friend” suggested the idea of winning four gold medals instead of three at the 2024 Olympics. Lyles’ friend reminded him of how good he was in the 4x400m race during his high school days.
Lyles said in the interview,
“I’ve never had somebody tell me something that has thrown my out-of-the-box thinking to inside-the-box, but that was like: okay, I’m not going to say no to that. Because after what I did at Budapest and seeing what my body can handle, if I train for it, okay, let’s take a shot. It’s the last race, there’s nothing to lose. If I’m in shape for it and I’ve trained for it all year, sure let’s take a crack at it. If they allow me, if they need me and they are willing - let’s go, let’s take it.”