'It was the last sport that we did'- Noah Lyles reveals track and field was not his first love

'It was the last sport that we did'- Noah Lyles reveals track and field was not his first love

Abigael Wafula 09:28 - 22.10.2024

Noah Lyles, a triple world champion, revealed that he and his brother naturally gravitated toward track and field after playing multiple sports, with support from their parents, including coaching from their father, and has since found success with endorsements and victories despite recent setbacks.

Noah Lyles has explained that his parents, Keisha Cane Bishop and Kevin Lyles never played a role in shaping his career as a track athlete.

The triple world champion, in an interview with Buzzfeed, disclosed that track and field was the last thing he ventured into after playing other sports for a long. He explained that he and his brother Josephus Lyles were just enjoying themselves in other sports before venturing into track and field as a professional career.

Noah Lyles added that when he decided to pursue track and field, his parents were very supportive and at some point, his father coached him and helped nurture his sprinting talent.

“It was more of something I naturally gravitated toward myself. Me and my brother, we did almost every sport out there before we got to track and field. We were doing basketball, baseball, soccer, gymnastics, and swimming, and we were really just enjoying sports as a whole. Track and field was the last sport that we did,” Noah Lyles said.

“My parents did that purposely. They wanted us to choose track, and not because they did it. But when we did end up running, my dad was my coach for quite a few years, at least from late elementary school to all the way through middle school,” he added.

Meanwhile, switching to track and field must have been Noah Lyles’ best decision since he has been able to find an identity and make money from it. This season alone, Noah Lyles has managed to sign endorsements with top brands including energy drink brand Celsius and he also renewed his contract with Adidas.

Noah Lyles also notched up victories in a series of races including winning the 100m title at the Paris Olympic Games before testing positive for COVID-19 and finishing third in the men’s 200m final behind Letsile Tebogo and Kenny Bednarek.

Following the health setback, he was forced to end his season after the Olympics but he will be back to continue his winning ways next season. He has been vocal about going after Usain Bolt’s 200m world record of 19.19 seconds and he will be out to actualise his dream in 2025. He will also be looking to become America’s fastest man, with the hope of shattering Tyson Gay’s national record.

On his part, his brother Josephus Lyles has hopes to chart his path as a senior athlete after dominating most of his races as a junior athlete.

Tags: