Noah Lyles on world's fastest man debate: "It's me!"
"I've literally been told... most of my life, 'You can't,'" Noah Lyles recalled for a packed room of reporters on Monday (29 July) at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
The reigning world champion in both the 100 and 200m, Lyles grew up with asthma, and remembers at an early age being discouraged away from sport.
He faced other "you can't" pushback: In school; in his decision to go professional in athletics after high school; and - most recently - trying to stake the claim as the world's fastest man.
It's a title you could say that Lyles shares with the reigning Olympic champion in the 100m, Italy's Marcell Jacobs, and fans could see the two men go head-to-head at their respective peaks when the athletics gets underway later this week (1 August) at Stade de France.
But Lyles, who carries himself with a certain swagger, says that title will soon belong solely to him: "It's me. It's always going to be me," he said when asked about the "fastest man" debate.
"Everybody knows that the title goes to the Olympic champion and the world champion, which I am one of," he said, before adding: "And soon to be another one of."
"A lot of people look at my confidence and... the line between confidence and cockiness is so blurred, it's all an opinion," he said. "But I usually say, if you've looked at my life and seen what I've had to go through... But here I am."
Noah Lyles: "I've been through the hardest parts"
Three years ago, at Tokyo 2020 in 2021, Lyles said he was battling depression - even as he lined up in the men's 200m final, an event he was the reigning world champion in. Instead of his usual adrenaline-filled pre-race excitement, Lyles said he felt flat.
He'd go on to win the bronze behind Andre De Grasse and Erriyon Knighton.
"I've been through the hardest parts," Lyles said, detailing the ensuing disappointment of that Tokyo finish and saying he know works with a team of three different therapists. "I've, you know, been at the bottom. I've fought my way back up. I've fixed the weaknesses. Now here I am, stronger than before. If I lose this time, it's not going to be because I beat myself. It's just going to be that they had to be that much better. But to be honest, when Noah Lyles is being Noah Lyles, there's nobody."
Lyles has been open about how driven he felt after Tokyo, feeling frustrated with his performance there. He threw himself full-throttle into the 100m without giving up his focus on the 200m.
He arrives at the Olympics as the world champion in both events.
"Every time I'm gonna gonna do [something]... I do it," Lyles said. "Achieving almost everything that I put my mind to. And it's gaining that confidence each step of the way. That slowly builds it up higher and higher and higher.
"That's kind of the mindset I have, and as I get to these big moments, you know, I thrive off of these," he added. "This is what I've prayed for, is what I've dreamed of... these moments right here. I get more excited the bigger the crowd is."
And the good thing for Lyles? The crowd promises to be much bigger in Paris than it was in Tokyo.