Noah Lyles and Rai Benjamin | Getty Images

"Noah Lyles really changed the game"- Rai Benjamin rallies behind the 100m gold medalist amidst controversies after the Paris Olympics

Modified Aug 22, 2024 08:24 GMT

Rai Benjamin extended his support to Noah Lyles amid the ongoing controversies after the Paris Olympics. After winning the bronze medal in the 200m, Lyles was trolled by basketball fans on social media for his comments about NBA players calling themselves World Champions after winning the league.

Soon after, Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill spoke about Lyles' comments and claimed to defeat the athlete in a race easily.

“Noah Lyles can't say nothing after what just happened to him. You know what I'm saying? Then he want to come out and pretend like he's sick. I feel like that's like horseradish. So, for him to do that and say that we're not world champions of like our sport, like come on, bro, just speak on what you know about, you know what I'm saying? And that's track. I would beat Lyles. No, I wouldn't beat him by a lot, but I would beat Noah Lyles,” he said.

This brought about a lot of discussion on social media and Lyles' teammate Rai Benjamin extended his support to the 100m Paris Olympics gold medalist. He snubbed the doubters to express that Lyles has been the pioneer for change in track and field.

"Noah Lyles really changed the game man. You can keep fooling yourself but he really changed the game 😂", he wrote.

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Noah Lyles speaks on competing in the Olympics on home soil

Athletics - Olympic Games Paris 2024: Day 12 - Source: Getty

Noah Lyles has faced criticism for being very outspoken about his goals. Before the Paris Olympics, he announced that he would be targeting to win four gold medals to achieve something that hadn't been achieved so far. After concluding his campaign with two medals. Lyles was trolled on social media for not living up to his words.

Despite all the backlash, the American athlete set forward his goals for the next Olympics, scheduled to be held in LA, and expressed that it would be his greatest appearance at the quadrennial Games.

"I think of it (L.A. 2028) being my greatest Olympics ever. It's going to be on home soil. I've already got the beautiful feeling from Paris, the energy, the crowds were amazing. I'm just like, 'Oh my gosh, you get to bring this back to the U.S. home soil?' It's very rare that you get to make it Olympics, and then on top of that, be in your own backyard."

Lyles is yet to release an official update about his plans for the rest of the 2024 season.