New Delhi: To many in the Olympic sports world, American sprinter Noah Lyles became an instant hero just after last year’s World Athletics Championships in Budapest. It wasn’t because he won three golds at the event. It was because he took a swipe at the NBA for tagging its winners as world champions.
Noah Lyles, of the United States celebrates anchoring his team to gold in the Men's 4x100-meters relay final during the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary. (AP)
“You know what hurts me the most is that I have to watch the NBA Finals and they have ‘world champion’ on their head. World champion of what? The United States? Don’t get me wrong. I love the U.S. — at times — but that ain’t the world. That is not the world. We are the world. We have almost every country out here fighting, thriving, putting on their flag to show that they are represented. There ain’t no flags in the NBA. We gotta do more. We gotta be presented to the world.”
Now, Lyles isn’t one to hold back ever. He’ll say what is on his mind and he’ll make sure you hear him too. If you want more of that, you should watch ‘Sprint: The World’s Fastest Humans’ on Netflix.
It takes little more than 10 minutes for Lyles to rattle off lines that reveal a unique mindset. Fancy a few examples?
“I’m the third fastest human to ever live. Soon to be the first.”
“You have to have the mindset of a God.”
“I feel like I’m an almost artistic director.”
“I’m a true believer in that the moment isn’t bigger than me, the moment was made for me.”
But the reason he needs to have that mindset is not because he wants to be the fastest man in the world. He is already that guy. Rather, he wants to be the fastest ever.
And that means chasing Usain Bolt.
There is no more daunting prospect in world athletics. Bolt is a name people swear by. When Team USA put out a video of Lyles introducing himself as ‘the world’s fastest man’ during the opening ceremony, many quietly pointed him to Bolt and all the records he still holds.
Bolt’s 100m world record of 9.58 seconds (2009 Worlds at Berlin) and his Olympic record of 9.63 secs (2012 London) feel fairly secure. His 200m world record of 19.19 secs (2009 Worlds) and his Olympic record of 19.30 (2008 Beijing) will take some breaking too.
So, no matter what Lyles says, he knows he is being measured against a legend. He can of course use that as inspiration. But not getting there could also eat away at his soul. You’re cocky until you realise you are not as good as you think.
When Bolt was asked when he thought of Lyles’ comments in an interview with Men’s Health, he chose to not get carried away by the hype.
“He’s good but he’s not that good at the level, yet,” Bolt said. “I think he will get better over the years. So, the fact that he is winning now is crazy. One thing I respect about Lyles is his confidence. That’s the thing he has over most of these athletes. Last year, he wasn’t supposed to win the 100m, but he has the confidence that he’s going to win. The other guys are going in there fearing him.”
And that is what makes Lyles special. It is his charm. Others aren’t even thinking of Bolt, let alone his records but the American will make it his public goal. Fastest man? Bring it on.
Others have tried. You have to give them that. But no one got close. And there was a reason for that.
What made Bolt so good was that he was able to leverage his height (1.95m) and make it a proper weapon. Usually the tall sprinters have trouble getting to full speed after needing to crouch down at the start, but the Jamaican worked that out, and at full speed he was unstoppable.
Research shows that an amateur runner often takes between 50 and 55 steps to complete the 100m while an elite sprinter takes in the region of 45. Bolt would take 41. This was a big advantage.
Now, Lyles needs to find a different way. His own way. And that is perhaps the challenge. Usually, the quickest way to the top is to learn from the greats, you watch them and then you do as you do. Then, at a certain point, you add something on top of it. But Bolt was so different that it is difficult to follow in his footsteps.
The only thing that you can perhaps learn from Bolt is how he seemed to approach the big moments. With the world watching, he was often at his best. Much of that came down to belief. But the Jamaican also confessed that he only felt that way when he knew he had put in the requisite hard work.
Bolt, though, was never chasing records. He chased perfection. And that is what Lyles will need to do as well. The American will have a better chance of finding that in 200m, an event he calls ‘his wife’, as opposed to the 100m, which is ‘his mistress’.
When Bolt hung up his spikes in 2017, many wondered whether the void would ever be filled. Some didn’t believe it was possible. But Lyles being Lyles wants to rise up to a challenge that no one else could.
At a news conference on Monday, Lyles addressed the controversy from the opening ceremony.
“It’s me,” Lyles said when asked about the ‘fastest man’ tag, laughing. “It’s always going to be me. Everybody knows that the title goes to the Olympic champion and the world champion, which I am one of. And soon to be another one of.”
Without ambition one starts at nothing. Lyles clearly has that but whether that will be enough to catch up with Bolt, we’ll soon know. The Olympic men’s 100-metre preliminaries begin at the Stade de France on Saturday and we’ll quickly figure out whether the hype is real or not.
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