Noah Lyles and some sports fans have had a strained relationship after the track and field Olympian made some questionable statements a year ago. Most people put it behind them after Lyles showed his dominance in the Paris Olympics, winning gold in the 100-meter race and then winning bronze in the 200-meter race after getting hit with COVID-19.
He might not be in the good graces of fans again after an old story from June circulated recently of Lyles saying that he was invited to Anthony Edwards' shoe release event, but he declined the invitation. At the time, Lyles was negotiating a contract with Adidas, and he was expecting to have a shoe like Edwards.
“You want to do what? You want to invite me to [an event for] a man who has not even been to an NBA Finals,” Lyles said in an interview with TIME Magazine. “No disrespect: the man is an amazing athlete. He is having a heck of a year. I love that they saw the insight to give him a shoe because they saw that he was going to be big. All I’m asking is, ‘How could you not see that for me?'”
Lyles has shown throughout his career that he doesn't have a filter on what he says, and that's why some people are lukewarm in supporting him.
Is Noah Lyles confident or arrogant?
The statement that caused confusion for many and made Noah Lyles a hot topic was when he questioned the NBA champions being considered world champions after his 200-meter win at the world athletics championships in Budapest.
“The thing that hurts me the most is that I have to watch the NBA Finals, and they have ‘World Champion' on they head,” Lyles said. “World champion of what? The United States? Don't get me wrong. I love the U.S. at times, but that ain't the world. That is not the world.”
Lyles received a lot of backlash from his comments, most notably from NBA players, but the track and field star took it on the chin. Since then, he's continued to win at a high level, including adding a gold medal to his resume.
After the 200-meter final at the Paris Olympics, gold medalist Letsile Tebogo was asked if he saw himself as the face of men's track after beating out Lyles in the race.
“I think for me, I can’t be the face of athletics because I’m not an arrogant or loud person like Noah [Lyles],” Tebogo said to the reporters. “I believe Noah is the face of athletics.”
Lyles probably believes that he is the face of men's track as well, and he has the attitude to take that title, but at what cost?
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