'I didn't tell him'-Noah Lyles' mom reveals shocking childhood diagnosis kept secret

Noah Lyles' mother, Keisha Caine Bishop has revealed how she kept a key childhood diagnosis from him to protect his potential.

Noah Lyles’ mother, Keisha Caine Bishop has always been a pillar of strength in the sprinter’s life.

Behind every triumphant moment on the track, from Lyles’ 100-meter gold medal at the 2023 World Athletics Championships to his inspiring speeches on overcoming adversity, lies a mother’s relentless dedication to her son’s success.

Lyles, diagnosed with six major health conditions—including asthma, allergies, dyslexia, ADHD, anxiety, and depression—faced considerable challenges growing up, but it was Keisha who ensured these obstacles did not define his future.

Keisha recently opened up about these formative years in a candid interview on the Got It From My Momma podcast, revealing the untold story of her son’s childhood diagnoses and how she helped him navigate them.

Lyles, who dealt with multiple health conditions from an early age, was not even aware of some of his own struggles, thanks to his mother’s deliberate decision to keep him in the dark—until the time was right.

“When he first got diagnosed with ADD [now referred to as ADHD], he didn’t even know it ’cause I didn’t tell him,” Keisha admitted during the podcast.

She explained that her choice to withhold this information was rooted in wanting to shape his identity outside of a diagnosis.

Rather than allowing Lyles to feel limited by ADHD, Keisha equipped him with tools to manage the challenges.

When the time finally came for him to learn about the condition, it was his younger brother, Josephus, who broke the news, telling Noah, “Dude, you have ADD.”

Noah’s response was one of innocent confusion: “I have ADD. What is ADD?”

Keisha took this moment to reframe the condition in a way that would empower her son.

“I say, ‘Okay, I’m gonna tell you what ADD is. It’s like it’s a superpower. Because you think outside the box, and you’re very creative… but every superpower has a weakness.’”

She described how she and her family worked to turn what could have been perceived as a weakness into a strength, making it clear that ADHD wouldn’t define him or limit his potential.

In addition to managing ADHD, Noah Lyles also grappled with severe asthma from the age of three.

Keisha recounted countless sleepless nights spent by her son’s side, comforting him through persistent coughing fits and breathing struggles.

“Whenever he struggled to sleep, in the middle of the night, I would hold him up so he could breathe,” she recalled.

Despite medical interventions like adenoid and tonsil removal, asthma remained a lifelong condition that would continue to impact Noah.

But Keisha never lost hope. “I know this is a very hard time right now, but your life is not gonna always be like this,” she often told him during their toughest moments.

Keisha believes that overcoming these early struggles helped shape the elite athlete’s determined mindset.

Reflecting on his resilience, she shared, “I think him experiencing all of that adversity when he was young and coming out on the other side, he has learned that yeah, things may be hard sometimes but it’s just a season, it’s not gonna last.”

When asked if Lyles' grit and determination came naturally, Keisha was quick to agree.

“It had to be there, ’cause you can’t really teach that, it’s like an X factor,” she explained.

However, she believes that his perseverance may have been strengthened by the constant battles with asthma, which forced him to develop resilience at a young age.

Today, Noah Lyles stands tall as a two-time Olympic champion, yet it is the unspoken challenges of his childhood that continue to fuel his determination.