What is Noah Lyles record over 400m and 4x400m relay? Exploring if the world champion can compete in four events at Paris Olympics

By Soumik Bhattacharya

Modified Jul 19, 2024 19:17 GMT

Six-time World Championships gold medalist Noah Lyles has been one of the most formidable sprinters in the US circuit in the men's 100m and 200m disciplines. However, Lyles has also repeatedly expressed his desire to compete in the 400m sprint and relay events in recent months.

At the start of the season, Lyles had also stated that he was aiming to win four gold medals in the quadrennial event in Paris. However, this is unlikely to happen as Lyles did not participate in the 400m event during the trials, and thus his absence from the event in the Olympics is almost guaranteed.

In the 4x400m relay event, Lyles only competed once this season at the World Athletics Indoor Championships when he was picked in the team to everyone's surprise. Even though the US team including Lyles managed a silver medal in the event, the fans and various other former athletes such as Fred Kerley were left outraged with this decision of the governing body of the United States track and field circuit, USATF (United States Track and Field).

However, this is unlikely to be repeated in Paris considering the presence of various other specialist 400m runners such as Quincy Hall and Michael Norman.

Moreover, Noah Lyles' record in the 400m events isn't as formidable as it is in his signature events such as the 100 and 200m. Lyles's personal best in the 400m event is 47.04 seconds which he registered back in 2016 in Forestville, Maryland (quite far behind than that of runners such as Quincy Hall and Michael Norman). His best performance in the 4x400m relay came in 2023 at the Percy Beard Track (combined time of 3:02.99).

Thus, it can be concluded that the five-time Diamond League winner, Noah Lyles will most probably compete in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relays (likely depending on the coaches) and his dream of competing in four events is likely to remain unfulfilled as of now.

Noah Lyles indulges in fresh controversy ahead of the Paris Olympics 2024

Noah Lyles at the Track and Field Trial (Image Via: Getty Images)

Besides his aggressive on-track nature, Noah Lyles's statements in the media also land in controversies. Recently, the Florida native found himself in another such controversy after he issued some statements about the 2023 World Championships double medalist, Quincy Hall.

In a recent episode of the Track World News Podcast, Noah Lyles once again expressed his desire to make it to the 4x400m relay team at the Paris Olympics. However, in doing so Lyles left out Hall (winner of Men's 400m during the trials as well as a gold medalist in the 4x400m relays event during the 2023 World Championships) from the 4x400m relay team saying (at 1:05:24):

"The only reason I wouldn’t use the current U.S. champion is because I don’t think he would be a starter. I feel like using him on the first leg would just be almost like a waste to his talent."

This statement infuriated Hall and he responded via his official X (formerly Twitter) handle, saying:

"@LylesNoah I don’t bother nobody but my blocks ready anytime you feel like you can beat me in the 400 you was talking (too) much on my name on (your) little podcast. I don’t do the little slick comments and remarks I line up.”

This incident between two top US athletes has also left the fans on social media divided.