Olympics champion Noah Lyles has revealed the big ambitions he has to make track and field one of the mots respected and followed sports in the world.
Olympics 100m champion Noah Lyles is keen to elevate track and field so that the sport garners enough respect and following even when he retires.
Lyles is considered the face and voice of track and field due to his outspokenness and stunts on and off the track which have generated interest amongst athletics fans while also ruffling feathers beyond the sport.
The American sprinter is not about to stop anytime soon as he believes this is one of the ways in which track and field will continue to grow so that those who come after him also benefit.
“I want to show my sport to the world, I want it to be entertaining,” Lyles told Access Hollywood.
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“I want people to say hey I want to go to a track meeting just as much as I want to go to other events and say hey; Noah Lyles is here and he’s cheering on for his friend or athlete that he found new respect for at the Olympics.
“To be able to give platforms because when I leave, whoever comes after me does not have a hard time trying to fit themselves in. It is like I opened the door, now you can run through it.”
Lyles’ style has been lauded by both current and former athletes with Olympics 400m champion Rai Benjamin the latest to offer support, terming him a game changer and a bigger influence on track and field than legendary Jamaican Usain Bolt and others during his era.
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The American runner, who claimed a shock silver medal in the 3,000m steeplechase at the Olympics, received a heroic reception back home for doing what no one expected from him.
“A lot of people came up through the ranks, Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell, Yohane Blake but I think the level of attention that track and field now has because of who Noah is as a person, just his ability to bring the masses outside in track and field,” Benjamin told Sports Centre last week.
“Like the entire NBA was truly tuned in [into the Olympics] to see what could happen so the level of attention he [Lyles] has brought into the sport I feel like it has been phenomenal. Nothing like I have ever seen before in previous years."
Legendary American sprinter Michael Johnson also lauded Lyles for being vocal on many issues affecting athletes, saying it is the only way to lift the sport and also ensure they earn more from it.
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