Noah Lyles: 5 Things You Should Know About The Olympic Track And Field Star

Olympian Noah Lyles he will stop at nothing to prove that he is one of the fastest men on the track.

Lyles made headlines at the Paris 2024 Olympics when he took home a bronze medal in the 200m final after testing positive for COVID-19. The coronavirus guidelines in Paris do not require athletes to self-isolate or withdraw from events.

After finishing the race, Lyles, who has a history of asthma, collapsed on the track. The health workers took care of the runner and escorted him out of the track in a wheelchair. Hours later, Lyles announced that his Olympic journey had come to an end.

“First of all, I want to thank God for putting me through the Olympics! Second, I want to congratulate @tebogo_letsile_ , @kenny_bednarek and everyone else for an amazing Olympic 200m final,” Lyles wrote on Instagram, tagging the gold and silver medal winners. “Finally, I want to thank everyone for the messages of support. I believe this will be my last Olympics in 2024.”

He continued: “It’s not the Olympics I wanted, but it left me with great joy in my heart.” I hope everyone enjoyed the show. Whether you were for me or against me, you have to admit that you watched, right? 😉 see you next time.”

Keep scrolling to get to know Lyles:

Received Bronze and Gold Medals

Lyles won his first gold medal at the 2014 Youth Olympics. Seven years later, he qualified for his first Olympic Games in Tokyo. He returned with a bronze medal in the 200 meter category.

Heading into the 2024 Paris Olympics, Lyles revealed his goal was to win four gold medals. However, he ended up getting gold in the 100-meter race and bronze in the 200-meter race.

Neck and Neck with Usain Bolt

Since Bolt’s retirement in 2017, Lyles has been regarded as the current “fastest man in the world”. While Bolt holds the record for the fastest time in the World Championship with 19.19 seconds, Lyles achieved the second best time in history with 19.31 seconds.

“Noah Lyles is a great athlete,” Bolt said in an interview with the Netflix docuseries Sprint. “He is full of energy. He has a crowd … Conceptually he is very strong. He believes in himself. But if he breaks the world record, I will not be happy.”

He doesn’t talk about his mental health

Lyles revealed that he struggles with ADD, depression and anxiety. In 2020, he shared on social media that he was taking antidepressants.

“Recently I decided to take anti-depressants. That was one of the best decisions I’ve made in a while,” he wrote about X. “Since then I have been able to think without the dark idea that nothing is important. Thank God for mental health 🙏🏾.”

Lyles stopped taking the medication before the Tokyo Olympics, because he thought it was affecting his energy levels. Despite leaving the doctor’s prescription, she has no regrets about going public with her struggle.

“It was an idea for me to take something, and it made me feel better. And I knew there were many people like me who were afraid to say something or start that journey,” he said. TIME in August 2021. “And I wanted them to know that if you see me well, I want you to know that it’s OK not to feel well. And you can go out and talk to someone about work, or even get medicine. Because this is a serious matter. You don’t want to wake up one day and think, I don’t want to be here anymore.”

She is a Big Fan of Nail Art

Lyles expresses her personality by rocking nail polish. She wore colorful nails at track meets and other events. For the 2024 Paris Games, Lyles went with a patriotic theme and featured a red, white and blue design. At one point, the word “icon” was painted on his fingers.

While some found Lyles’ style unique, many traditional fans questioned the look. Lyles, for her part, doesn’t care what the haters think about her nails.

“I’m someone who knows that many people have different opinions and they have them for different reasons,” Lyles said to himself. Us Weekly in July 2024. “To be honest, I’m so confident that it doesn’t really matter. I think it’s funny sometimes.”

He is dating fellow Olympian Junelle Bromfield

Lyles and the Jamaican runner started communicating on social media in 2017 but did not start dating until five years later.

“My girlfriend is open [a] team as well, so we train together and compete a lot on the same day,” said Lyles exclusively. Us his and Bromfield in July 2024. “We have that mental space to be able to share with each other and continuously feed off each other.”