Noah Lyles reveals new unseen footage of night before attempting to break Usain Bolt's 200m world record at the NYC Grand Prix

By Animesh Pandey

Modified Oct 21, 2024 04:44 GMT

Olympic champion Noah Lyles recently uploaded a video titled 'The Fastest Man in the World' on his YouTube channel. The short film covered the sprinter's journey from the NYC Grand Prix to the Paris Olympics 2024, where he won an Olympic gold and a bronze medal in the 100m and the 200m event respectively.

The 27-year-old sprinter talked about his journey through the NYC Grand Prix, which was held before the US Olympic trials in 2024.

"... To be honest, I'm just hoping that it's over quick, because the longer the flight is, the more of a hit it takes to my legs. So quick flights are always what we want.....," he mentioned. [12:47 onwards]

However, Lyles had one more aim: to break Usain Bolt's world record in the men's 200m event.

".......World record is dropping tomorrow, all the signs are there, and the number, I keep saying to myself, '19.10' ," he further added.

Noah Lyles won the NYC Grand Prix with ease. However, he could only clock 19.77s overall to win the race. Lyles' personal best is 19.31 seconds, which he timed at the World Championships held in Eugene, Oregon in 2022. He went on to win a second consecutive bronze medal in the 200m at the Paris Olympics 2024

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Noah Lyles on breaking Usain Bolt's 100m record

Noah Lyles in action at the Paris Olympics [Image Source : Getty]

Noah Lyles created history when he edged out Kishane Thompson of Jamaica to win the Olympic gold medal in the men's 100m event at the Paris Olympics 2024. The margin of victory was just 0.005 seconds, and the results had to be decided via photo finish.

However, Lyles won't be satisfied until he breaks the world record. In his interview for the YouTube channel 'I Am Athlete', the sprinter mentioned,

"I had a dream that I'm going to run 9.41, and God has gifted me with the power of prophecy, so I know that that's going to come true. I'm sorry every dream I've ever had has come true, I just if God has given me, who am I?" Lyles said. [1:00:00 onwards]

Usain Bolt, however, has a different opinion. While he is supportive of Lyles' motives, the Jamaican sprinting sensation knows that the journey is far from a cakewalk.

In a conversation for the Netflix documentary 'Sprint', Bolt mentioned,

"Noah Lyles is a great athlete. He's full of energy, mentally he's very strong. He believes in himself, but if he break the world record, I'm not gonna be happy. Records are meant to be broken. I wish him all the best, but it's not gonna be easy."

Noah Lyles' personal best in 100m is 9.79 seconds, which is 0.21 seconds less than Bolt's world record of 9.58 seconds. The American sprinter's personal best of 19.31 seconds is 0.12 seconds less than Bolt's world record of 19.19 in the 200m event.