Noah Lyles's ability of not being afraid to lose despite the criticisms he faces is one of his unique qualities according to American track legend.
Following the success of Noah Lyles winning the US Olympic trials to seal his ticket to Paris, track legend Michael Johnson revealed the qualities of the charismatic speedster that make him unique from his rivals.
The four-time Olympic champion stated that the world's fastest man's trait of not being afraid to lose or the consequences of losing, despite his show of attention to himself sets him apart to succeed on the track.
"Noah Lyles is unique. He states his goals. Puts on a show to draw attention to himself. That sets him up for tremendous criticism if he loses. He isn’t afraid to lose or the consequences of losing. You run fastest when you’re not afraid of the consequences of losing," wrote eight-time world champion on his X page.
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Lyles booked his spot on the men's US 100m Olympic team after winning the event equaling his Personal Best (PB) of 9.83s. He finished ahead of Kenny Bednarek who also clocked a new PB of 9.87s and Fred Kerley in a Season's Best (SB) of 9.88s as all three booked their spots to Paris.
His victory again backed up his claims of being the best and having bogus goals of being the greatest sprinter in history. He aims for a quadruple of gold medals at the Paris Olympic Games, which has led to track fans and enthusiasts tagging him as being 'corny' or disrespectful to his rivals.
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Despite this, Lyles says his outlandish personality is just being himself and not for other reasons.
“Usually, I don’t feel the pressure because I’m just having fun. All I got to do is be me. I constantly tell kids all the time, ‘be yourself.’ And if people see me as being corny, shoot, I’m corny. But guess what? I’m winning. While being corny,” said the reigning world 100m champion in response to fans' criticisms and how he handles pressure.
The reigning world 100m champion will be gunning to win the 200m title at the trials, where he stands as the outright favourite as he is undefeated in two years, and the possibilities of his quadruple dream in Paris can finally be in sight.