Noah Lyles is turning the heat up in 2025. At the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, he had ‘Tyreek could never‘ printed on the back of his bib and that’s trumpeting confidence in every sense. Also, he’s won two 60m races so far – the RADD Sports College Invitational and the NB GP. Nothing but the crown would have suited the reigning 100m Olympic champion. But back in the day, a young Lyles actually cried over track and field when he realized a golden opportunity slipped through his fingers.
2025’s started with a bang for Lyles. 6.62 seconds topped by 6.52 in the next race. He’s out to win it all. This is pretty much a continuation of his dominance from 2024, where he stomped to 100m victory at the Paris Olympics, the London Diamond League, and the U.S. Olympic Trials. But there was a time when things looked different. In 2017, Noah Lyles battled through one of the most uncertain phases of his track career, the one that stripped him of money and opportunity.
In episode 5 of the Beyond the Records podcast, Lyles got candid about that tough period. At the start of the 2017 season, he was sidelined from the track because of a hamstring injury. Sure, he still managed to win his first national title in the 300m, clocking 31.87s at the U.S. Championships finals. But when it came to the 200m, where he was a favorite, he had to make a brutal call. Noah Lyles confessed, “That race I had to make a very hard decision because I was not fully healed. Yeah. I had to make the decision to either run through the pain and potentially get hurt or run through the pain and make the team.”
Winning the U.S. Championships meant a spot on the 2017 World Championships team. That’s a massive deal and walking away from it wasn’t easy. But for Noah Lyles, it turned out to be a bittersweet choice. Skipping the race allowed his leg to heal properly before heading to London a month and a half later, which avoided the risk of worsening his 2cm tear.
But on the flip side, it meant missing out on the good stuff. Lyles said, “And I decided not to run. Yeah. And would, and I left a, a lot of, a lot of money on the table that day.” Not just that, it crushed Lyles emotionally, “It was a, it was, I actually cried that day. It was the first time I ever cried over track and field. Yeah.”
Noah Lyles justified his regret with, “Because it was a situation where I knew I could go to the World Championships. I knew I could be, you know, 19 years old and win and be like one of the youngest to ever do it.” That was the dream. To make a bold entrance onto the world stage. To show the world, he could be the first Noah Lyles. But it wasn’t meant to be.
On the podcast with Gout Gout and Grant Holloway, Noah Lyles also recalled feeling befuddled, “And, and all of a sudden I’m like, dang, here I am in a position where I can either decide to bank it all on one moment and that might be my only championship ever. Or I can miss this one and potentially never be injured again and potentially win everyone after this.”
The Florida native eventually labeled it the hardest decision he ever made in track and field. But looking back now, he thinks it was the best decision ever made.
Although it wasn’t like he didn’t try, Lyles attempted to warm up for the 200m semis in 2017, hoping to push through, but when he realized he couldn’t fully extend his leg, he made the smart call. His agent Mark Wetmore called that plain bad timing and said, “He [Noah Lyles] could have run but it would have just been an unnecessary risk to take for a 19-year-old.”
And now, years later, we’re getting the full picture of just how much that moment weighed on him. After all, he had just run the third fastest time of the year in Shangai that year, which means he could have gone firing on both cylinders. So we totally understand that regret.
But guess what he couldn’t do then will now be on his agenda this season. But wait, is Gout Gout a threat to him in doing so? Here’s the full and final take on the dynamic between the Australian prodigy and the American pro.
Noah Lyles and Gout Gout’s relationship unveiled
Can two super-fast phenoms from different nations be friends beyond the track? Well, it’s uncommon, but not impossible. At least not for Noah Lyles and Gout Gout. The two share a dynamic bond, where the 17-year-old has just challenged the Olympic Champion on the podcast saying, “I’m trying. I’m trying to get a medal for sure or even make that final and be running up Noah or trying to, trying to chase Noah down for sure.”
Do you think this would offend Noah Lyles? After all, he doesn’t like it when Tyreek Hill or iShowSpeed challenges him. But in this case, Noah took in with great spirit. In fact, he boosted the teenage runner, saying, “That’s what I love to hear.”
Noah Lyles pushed Gout Gout to voice his dreams with great courage. He advised the youngster, “Every step of the way, like come on, you know, don’t be scared to tell me your dream. Shout from the top of the mountains. Come after me.”
Who do you think can emerge on the top in a showdown between these two? Let us know in the comments below!
The post Noah Lyles Recalls Hardest Time of Track and Field Career That Left Him Crying appeared first on EssentiallySports.
