Rai Benjamin buttressed his statement on Noah Lyles being the game changer in track and field despite predecessors Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell, and Yohan Blake doing a good job.
Olympic 400mH champion Rai Benjamin isn't going down on his words about his friend Noah Lyles being the 'Game Changer' in track and field, despite paying respect to the legendary Usain Bolt.
The quarter-mile hurdler won his first title in Paris and also anchored Team USA to the 4X400m gold medal, defended his statement, and gave reasons on how Lyles has brought more attention to track and field in an interview with @lindacohn for ESPN Sportscenter.
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"To be fair a lot of people came up through the ranks. Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell, Yohan Blake, but I think the level of attention that track and field now has because of the series SPRINT, because Noah as a person, just his ability to bring the masses outside track and field and have them like, the NBA, the entire NBA you know like the environment, I feel like they were entirely tuned in to see what would happen," said Benjamin.
22:35 - 23.08.2024
'It'll be out of my character to join the bandwagon' - South African star sprinter reveals why he isn't social media loud yet a consistent force
Paris Olympic medallist Akani Simbine opened up on why he doesn't do all the thrash talking or social media tantrums like his peers such as Noah Lyles.
"So the level of attention that he's brought to the sport, I feel like has been phenomenal. Nothing like I have ever seen before in previous years and you know we've had some pretty great people come through the sport but the level of attention that he has brought in less than a year it's unreal."
Benjamin has been a huge supporter of his fellow American track star Lyles this year and has been very vocal about the impact the Olympic 100m champion brings to the sport, not minding the backlash he gets from the majority of fans.
His initial statement that caused online roar and controversy was tweeting on his X page "Dude changed the game forever."