Noah Lyles helps US to world indoor 4x400m podium in possible Paris Olympics preview

GLASGOW – Noah Lyles helped the United States team to a silver medal in the 4x400 metres relay – a distance he rarely runs – at the world indoor athletics championships on March 3, a preview perhaps of his Paris Olympic intentions.

Running the third leg, the 100m and 200m specialist received the baton in first place and handed off without giving up any ground in a 45.68-second split, the third fastest of his team.

Alexander Doom, the 400m gold medallist a night earlier, pipped American anchor Christopher Bailey at the finish line to give Belgium gold in 3min 2.54sec. The US crossed in 3:02.60.

Lyles justified his late call-up, saying: “To be honest I’d already told people I wanted to run the 4x4 in Paris, so I had to prove that, to be on it.

“I came out here and thankfully everybody trusted me to prove that I could do it. I feel like I got the job done...

“Everything I’ve been doing this year, I’ve seen a good 4x4 leg, I’ve seen great 60 metres and I’ve been able to run three rounds in one day. I’m very positive about Paris.”

Lyles, who led the US team out during introductions with a loud “Woo!”, raced to silver in the 60m on March 1 in his world indoor debut.

He won the 100m, 200m and 4x100m at 2023’s world championships in Budapest, becoming the first man since Usain Bolt in 2015 to complete the sprint treble.

He hinted recently he is considering going for four golds at the Paris Games, adding the 4x400m to his schedule.

“I’ve never had somebody tell me something that has thrown my out-of-the-box thinking to inside-the-box, but that was like: okay, I’m not going to say no to that,” Lyles told L’Equipe recently.

“After what I did at Budapest and seeing what my body can handle, if I train for it, okay, let’s take a shot. It’s the last race, there’s nothing to lose.”

His relay run prompted some trash talk on social media, with American sprinter Fred Kerley suggesting USA Track and Field was showing favouritism by putting Lyles in the relay.

“He could be here, but he ain’t. If he mad, come on out here,” Lyles said in response.

The 26-year-old is no stranger to the one-lap race. He famously ran a 45-second split as a high schooler at the Penn Relays, making up huge ground to take his team from second last to second.

But there were no such heroics on March 3 as Doom, who outsprinted Norway’s Karsten Warholm for the 400m crown on March 2, produced a stunning finish.

Jonathan Sacoor, Dylan Borlee and Christian Iguacel embraced their star teammate Doom as he crossed the line, screaming in delight, as the US quartet also featuring Jacory Patterson and Matthew Boling were left rueing their luck.

“This means a lot of confidence, not just for me but for the team,” Doom said.

“It was really a team effort. It is amazing back-to-back gold medal. What a fantastic night.” REUTERS, AFP