Noah Lyles’ Feelings for Track and Field Cleared Up by US Icon

Whatever Noah Lyles does, it usually gets people talking—and not always in a bad way. Take that time he decided to broadcast the 2024 Atlanta City Games for free on his YouTube channel. He wasn’t just giving fans a front-row seat; he was also calling out the rising subscription fees for track and field events on major networks. The result? He earned major praise from fans who loved his bold stand. And if you thought he was only about racing, think again. Lyles has been out there promoting athletes in places you wouldn’t expect, like New York Fashion Week. Yep, he’s got his hand in just about everything.
And here’s the kicker: while the new track season hasn’t even started yet, Noah Lyles is already making big moves. He’s signed up for the New Balance Grand Prix to kick off the 2025 season. But before he even steps onto the track, he’s already getting recognition for his mindset and efforts to elevate the sport.
Track and field legend validates Noah Lyles’s language in the sport
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The year 2024 is winding down, and with it, the Olympic season. Fans will have to wait four more years before the world’s greatest sporting event returns. But in the meantime, Rodney Green and Justin Gatlin took a look back at the track and field season in their Ready Set Go podcast, discussing performances from the Olympics and measuring the athletes’ impact. And of course, the name that kept popping up was none other than Noah Lyles — no surprises there, right?
But then, Green dropped some noteworthy nuggets in that conversation. He said, “For males, I would definitely say he’s carving out his own lane. It’s definitely going to be unorthodox the way he does it.” Big words, isn’t it? But about whom was the Bahamian sprinter talking? Well, none other than Lyles himself. The 39-year-old former athlete Green praised Noah for doing something remarkable on and off the track. Lyles has used his fame to break out of the track world and into other realms, seeing positive results along the way.
His ability to think beyond just being an athlete has opened doors for him in fashion, YouTube, and beyond. Rodney pointed out that Noah’s expanding presence could actually elevate track and field, saying, “I think Noah’s honest way of creating his own lane is by doing what he does for the sport and how he transcends it.”
Rodney Green continued, “He transcends it because he’s not thinking of himself as just a track athlete; he’s thinking of himself as more than a track athlete and what he can do to kind of blow himself up and, I guess, drag track and field with it.” Will that bring a negative result to the betterment of the sport? The veterans don’t hold such claims. Instead, their comments seemed to support Noah’s tag of being something prominent.
The slow but steady race toward carving his name in history
Months before the Paris Olympics, Noah Lyles had already made his goals clear. It was April, right before the outdoor track and field season kicked off, when he appeared on The On Track & Field Podcast! to discuss his plans for the upcoming season. During the conversation, Noah seemed to enjoy being called “the face of track & field.” Keep in mind, this was before he claimed his three-fer at the Budapest World Athletics Championships, but he already had a clear strategy in mind to establish himself as the face of the sport.
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In the conversation, Noah Lyles slipped into a few parts of his plan. He eventually said, “This is my goal. My goal wasn’t to be a world record holder, grab as many World Championships or Olympic medals… my goal was to transcend the sport and take it to a place that it’s never been, that it’s never seen.” He further noted, “I want to leave a book of, ‘Oh, we don’t have to just do it this way—we can go way further than what’s presented to us.’” This desperation has worked for him. Now, Noah Lyles is a name that has movement in any popular realm.
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Just a few weeks ago, Noah appeared in the Las Vegas Grand Prix, where he rubbed shoulders with Ferrari drivers. He didn’t stop there—he also took in an NBA game between the Orlando Magic and the Philadelphia 76ers, and not once did he catch any flak for his infamous “World Champion of what?” comment aimed at NBA winners. That’s just how Noah Lyles rolls. Now, even the veterans are throwing their support behind him.