"You would’ve taken all my money" - Michael Johnson weighs in on Noah Lyles missing out on 200m gold, Erriyon Knighton not winning Olympic medal

By Adityan Pillai

Modified Sep 02, 2024 07:46 GMT

Michael Johnson has expressed his disbelief at the fact that Noah Lyles lost out on winning the gold medal in the 200m at the Paris Olympics as well as at U.S. athlete Erriyon Knighton returning home without winning a medal in his second Olympics appearance. The legendary athlete compared the duo's Paris Olympics experiences with performances from the 2021 season, when they were considered to be among upcoming stars of the 200m.

Lyles clocked 19.31s at the World Athletics Championships 2021 to win gold, which also made him the third fastest 200m athlete of all time. Meanwhile, Knighton clocked 19.84s to secure a spot on the U.S. Olympic team for the Tokyo Olympics back in 2021.

Knighton finished fourth in the 200m final in Tokyo, missing out on bronze by a small margin. Both athletes lined up in the 200m final at the Paris Olympics, with Lyles in peak form and expected to win gold considering his unbeaten streak in the event over the past two years. However, Lyles won bronze and Knighton had to settle for fourth place in a tough contest in the French capital.

Legendary athlete Michael Johnson recently took to X(formerly Twitter) and expressed his shock at the two athletes' Olympics records being completely different from what he thought back in 2021.

"If you had told me in early 2021 that after two Olympics Noah Lyles would not have an Olympic 200 gold and Erryon Knighton would not have an Olympic medal, you would’ve taken all my money!" Johnson wrote.

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Michael Johnson hopes to sign Noah Lyles for his venture ' Grand Slam Track'

Michael Johnson at the 2000 USATF Olympic Trials in the 400 meters - Source: Getty

Michael Johnson spoke about having the best lineup for his upcoming venture which aims to bring about a change in how track and field is watched by audiences.

In an interview with TMZ, Johnson revealed that having made Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone the brand ambassador of the event, he aims to sign some of the best track athletes and Noah Lyles is certainly one of them.

"Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone just broke the world record again at the Olympics and just a phenomenal athlete. So, we are looking for the fastest, and Noah is certainly one of those I mean, Noah is the fastest. So, those sorts of people, Noah Lyles, Julien Alfred- the 100m champion, Gabby Thomas, 200m champion. Those are the sorts of people, Sydney, who's the world record holder of course and Cole Hocker, who won a mile at the Olympics" (2:55).

To revolutionize track and field as well as make the sport entertaining to the audience, Johnson is trying his best to get together the best talents as the league is set to be launched in April 2025.