United States sprinter Noah Lyles was the favorite to earn a gold medal in the 200-meter at the Paris Olympics. However, Lyles made headlines on Thursday when he surprisingly finished in third place after it was revealed he was racing even though he diagnosed with COVID, losing to Botswana sprinter Letsile Tebogo.
After the race, Tebogo, who ran a personal best 19.46 during Thursday's final, was asked about potentially becoming one of the faces of track and field after his gold medal performance.
“I can't be the face of athletics because I'm not an arrogant or loud person like Noah [Lyles],” Tebogo said. “So I believe Noah [Lyles] is the face of athletics.”
While it's not clear whether or not Tebogo is directly calling out Lyles, or simply noting that Lyles is known for being outspoken and confident, this is still a shocking thing to say about one of, if not the best runners in the world.
Lyles made headlines last year when he called out NBA players for referring to winning the NBA Finals as being “World Champions” during his now-infamous press conference where he said “World Champions of what? The United States?
More recently, after Lyles won gold in the 100-meter, he was already boasting about how he believed he would win gold again in the 200m.
“None of them is winning,” Lyles said. “When I come off the turn, they will all be depressed.”
While his latest comments were made before he was diagnosed with COVID and his health took a turn for the worse, it looks like Lyles has certainly developed a reputation amongst his peers. Who can fault Tebogo for his comments after what Lyles has been saying?
Letsile Tebogo is a rising star
While it was shocking to see Lyles lose the 200m, his signature event, it was not a surprise to see the 21-year-old Tebogo perform so well. Tebogo currently has a world record in the 300-meter (not currently an Olympic or World Championship event), won gold in the 4 x 400m relays at the 2024 World Relays and won silver in the 100m and bronze in the 200m at the 2023 World Championships. Tebogo also has a host of gold medals in various youth races.
Especially after Tebogo's comments after his gold medal winning race on Thursday, it looks like there may be a new rivalry brewing, both on and off the track between him and Lyles.
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