American Noah Lyles hopes 100m success is start of sprint dynasty

BUDAPEST – Noah Lyles says he hopes his victory in the 100m at the World Athletics Championships will be the “start of a dynasty” as he bids to become the first man to achieve a world sprint double since Usain Bolt in 2015.

In a perfectly timed piece of sprinting, the 26-year-old kept his nerve after a quick start by teammate Christian Coleman to outstrip a field deprived of defending champion Fred Kerley and Olympic gold medallist Marcell Jacobs after both failed to make the final.

“The goal was to make sure I was the first to 60 metres, then do Noah Lyles things, use my topping speed,” Lyles said of his race strategy.

“When I got there I believed I was the fastest guy and I kept believing that until I crossed the line.”

The American has made his name over 200m rather than the shorter sprint, but vowed that that would now be altered.

“Last year made this the right year” to target the 100m, he said.

He added: “After having such a strong hold on the 200m, it really freaked me out to be, like, OK no matter where I am in the season, I can go back to the 200m and it will be fast.

“Now it’s only a matter of time of continuously working on the 100m, the worst part of my race and getting it faster.

“It’s now about running faster 100s to make the first 100m of the 200m a faster time.

“The craziest thing is that we’ve got so much more to improve on and that’s a scary thought.”

Lyles admitted that his experience with the 100m had been “a long journey”.

“That’s the first time I’ve set a personal best since 2019,” he said of his 9.83 seconds timing that equalled the 2023 world best.

“I always remember that race and how I felt, believing in myself so much I thought I was crazy that day, believing in myself so much that someone might have thought I was crazy, might have put me in an insane asylum!”

Lyles, who is being filmed for an NBC Sports documentary by an Emmy-winning producer and will also feature heavily in a Netflix series on the 100m currently in production, added: “I’ve so much more to give to this event, but I’ve been giving a lot of it to the 200m.

“As people look back at this year, they’re going to be like this is the year Noah won the 100, 200 and 4x100 and that is the start of a dynasty.”

Lyles’ attention now turns to the 200m as he bids to become only the fifth man to achieve the sprint double at the World Athletics Championships.

Now-retired Jamaican superstar Bolt completed the sprint double three times at these championships – in 2009, 2013 and 2015.

He also wants to fill the charisma void left by Bolt since his exit from the sport.

“I believe track and field needs to market itself better, it needs to be fun,” Lyles said after his victory, the fourth in a row in the event for the US. “It’s easy to market me, I’m out there, but there are other stories, other approaches.

“I feel we have everything you need in track and that needs to be told better.

“We’re giving people a docu-series – tonight is episode two, it should be a good one. Winning the 100 metres always helps, a double helps more and a treble helps even more.”

With a best time of 19.31sec in the 200m, Lyles is the third-fastest man in history though still some way off Bolt’s world record of 19.19 set in 2009.

“To be honest, I am not worried,” Lyles said of potentially stiff competition in the 200m, notably from the silver and bronze medallists in the 100m, Letsile Tebogo of Botswana and Britain’s Zharnel Hughes respectively.

“I know Letsile and Zharnel are going to give their 100, and best believe that I’m going to give my 100!” Lyles said. AFP, REUTERS