Noah Lyles (born July 18, 1997) is an American professional

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping even ...

sprinter competing in the

100 meters The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

and

200 meters The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a Sprint (running), sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run th ...

. He is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic 200 m bronze medalist and a two-time World champion, having won the event at the

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experi ...

and

2022 World Athletics Championships The 2022 World Athletics Championships was the eighteenth edition of the World Athletics Championships. It was held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, United States, from July 15–24, 2022, with the country hosting that competition for the ...

. At these Championships Lyles also earned gold and silver medal in the 4 × 100 m relay respectively. He holds personal bests of 9.86 seconds for the 100 m and 19.31 seconds for the 200 m, the latter being an American record making him the third fastest on the respective world all-time list. Lyles won a gold medal in the 200 m during the 2014 Youth Olympic Games. He won gold medals for the 100 m and 4 × 100 m relay during the 2016 World U20 Championships. He is a five-time

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fourteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF) one-day mee ...

champion, including one 100 m and four 200 m titles.

Early life

Lyles was a gymnast as a youth and started track and field at 12 years of age. His parents Keisha Caine and Kevin Lyles competed in track and field at Seton Hall University. He attended T. C. Williams High School (now Alexandria City High School) in

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of downtown Washington, D.C. In 2020, the population was 159,467. Th ...

Early career

Lyles represented the United States at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games where he won a gold medal in the 200 m. In January 2015, Lyles cleared in the

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

as a high school junior. In November 2015, he was named 2015 high school boys athlete of the year by

Track & Field News ''Track & Field News'' is an American monthly sports magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on runnin ...

. In March 2016, Lyles won the 200 m at the New Balance Nationals Indoor. In April 2016, he won both the 100 m and 200 m at the 2016 Arcadia Invitational, setting new meeting records of 10.17 s and 20.48 s respectively. In June 2016, Lyles won the 100 m in 10.08 s at the USA Junior Championships. In July 2016, Lyles went to the U.S. Olympic Trials to compete for spots on the Olympic team in the 100 m and the 200 m. He failed to advance from his first 100 m heat, but in the 200 m he won his semi-final and then placed fourth in the final with a time of 20.09 s, breaking a 31-year-old national high school record. Though he didn't qualify for the

2016 Summer Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro ...

, he qualified for the 2016 World U20 Championships where he was a double gold medalist, taking the 100 m and relay titles.

Professional

Lyles had committed to compete for the

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni and its sports fans are often collectively referred to as ...

at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

, but in July 2016, Noah and his younger brother

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for ''The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly ...

instead turned professional and signed with

adidas Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...

. In November 2016, Lyles was again named high school boys athlete of the year for 2016 by

. Lyles started 2017 with his first senior national title in the 300 m at the 2017 USA Indoor Championships in the thin air of

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

, improving the indoor world record by one hundredth of a second to 31.87 s. He earned a silver medal in the 4 × 200-meter relay with team USA at the 2017 World Relays. Lyles won two meets in the 2017 IAAF Diamond League circuit, winning the final ahead of American champion Ameer Webb and world champion Ramil Guliyev. However, injuries prevented him from competing much of the season and he missed the 2017 World Championships as a result.

2018

Lyles returned to Albuquerque to compete at the 2018 USA Indoor Championships, but in the 60-meter dash instead of the 300 m. He made it through his first heat while equaling his personal best time of 6.57 s, but failed to advance through his semi-final. Having failed to make the national team for the 2018 World Indoor Championships, he turned his focus to preparing for the outdoor season. He opened with a win in the 200 m at the IAAF Diamond League Doha meet, setting a new personal best with a time of 19.83 s. A few weeks later he ran the less common 150 m at the adidas Boston Games, winning in a personal best time of 14.77 s. He returned to the 200 m at the IAAF Diamond League in Eugene, winning and improving his personal best time to 19.69 s. This time matched the world leading time set by

Clarence Munyai Clarence Munyai (born 20 February 1998) is a South African sprinter. He is the current South African record holder in the 200 metres, with a time of 19.69, set on 16 March 2018 at the South African national championships. He is ranked 10th in ...

earlier that year. At the 2018 USA Championships he focused on the 100 m instead, matching the world lead of 9.89 s in the semi-final. Mike Rodgers had set the world lead a day before in a separate heat, but he did not start in the semi-finals. This left Lyles' primary rival to be Ronnie Baker, who had run the 100 m in 9.78 s at the Prefontaine Classic earlier that year, but with a wind velocity just over the allowable limit for record purposes (+2.4 m/s). In the final Baker got out a few meters ahead of Lyles out of the blocks, but Lyles started to come back halfway through the race and just passed Baker in the last meter to win in 9.88 s, a new world lead and personal best time for Lyles. He became the youngest U.S. champion in the 100 m since Sam Graddy won in 1984. Lyles world lead in the 100 m would later be beaten by Baker (9.87 s) and then Christian Coleman (9.79 s), but at the Herculis IAAF Diamond League meet in Monaco Lyles set a new 200 m world lead and personal best time in 19.65 s. The time placed him in the top-10 fastest men in the 200 m of all time. Before that Lyles equaled his personal best and world lead at the Athletissima IAAF Diamond League meet to win a greatly anticipated showdown against Michael Norman, who had set the indoor world record in the

400-meter dash The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is o ...

earlier that year. Lyles went into the IAAF Diamond League final, the

Weltklasse Zürich Weltklasse Zürich ( en, World Class Zurich) is an annual, invitation-only, world-class track and field meeting at the Letzigrund in Zürich, Switzerland, generally held at the end of August or beginning of September. Previously one of the IAAF ...

, as the favorite. He was again matched up against world champion Ramil Guliyev who recently also become European champion, setting a personal best of 19.76 s in the process. The two were placed in adjacent lanes and ran evenly through the bend, but Lyles started to pull away on the straight and finished in 19.67 s. It was his fourth time under 19.70 s in the same season. Only one other individual has been under 19.70 s four times in a career, world record holder

Usain Bolt Usain St. Leo Bolt, , (; born 21 August 1986) is a retired Jamaican sprinter, widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time. He is the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, and 4 × 100 metres relay. An eight-tim ...

who also did it four times during his record-breaking 2009 season.

2019

In 2019, Lyles opened the season by running 100 meters races, running a 9.86 (+0.9) world leader in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

on May 18. In his first 200-meter race, at the Pietro Mennea Golden Gala meet, he equalled Mennea's long standing 1979 world record time running a 19.72 (+0.7). A month later at Athletissima in Lausanne, he dropped his personal best to 19.50 (−0.1) to move into the number four position on the all time list. A week later he ran a 9.92 (+0.3) 100 in Monaco. With the extended schedule in 2019, he ran the US National Championships at the end of July, taking the 200-meter title in 19.78 (−0.7) into a headwind in

Des Moines Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines ...

. Then in

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he ran 19.65 (+0.2). Lyles won gold medals in the 200 m and the 4 × 100 m relay at the

2019 World Athletics Championships The 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships () was the seventeenth edition of the biennial, global athletics competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), since renamed World Athletics. It was held bet ...

held in

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the count ...

, Qatar.

2021–present

On August 4, 2021, Lyles won a bronze medal at the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

in the 200-meter men's final with a time of 19.74 seconds, equalling his season's best from the U.S. Olympic Trials earlier that year. He followed this Olympic performance with a 19.52 (+1.5) in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, ...

on August 21, which was his second best performance and the ninth fastest 200 m mark in history. On July 21, 2022, during the

World Athletics Championships The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the ...

on home soil in Eugene, Oregon, Lyles claimed his second global title in the 200 m and surpassed Michael Johnson's long standing record of 19.32 by running 19.31, which moved him to third on the world all-time list. He capped his fine season in the Zürich

final with victory in 200 m, securing his fourth Diamond Trophy over the distance and fifth overall. Lyles was undefeated in his specialist event that year, breaking 20 seconds in all 12 of his races, including heats and finals.

Achievements

Information from

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

profile unless otherwise noted.

Personal bests

International competitions

Circuit wins and titles

100 m champion:

200 m champion: Diamond blue

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypox ...

:: 200 metres wins, other events specified in parenthesis :*

(2): Shanghai Diamond League (= ), Brussels Memorial Van Damme :*

(5): Doha Diamond League ( PB), Eugene Prefontaine Classic (PB), Lausanne Athletissima (WL PB), Monaco Herculis (WL MR PB), Zürich Weltklasse :*

(5): Shanghai (100m, WL PB), Lausanne (WL MR PB), Paris Meeting (MR), Zürich (100m), Brussels :*

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

(1): Monaco (WL) :*

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

(1): Eugene (WL MR) :*

(4): Doha, Monaco (MR), Lausanne, Zürich (MR)

National championships

Season's bests

w = wind-assisted (wind velocity more than +2.0 m/s) ;100 meters *World rank from

' Season Top Lists. ;200 meters *World rank from

' Season Top Lists.

Notes

References

External links

* *

Videos

Noah Lyles Sprints to 200m Gold , World Athletics Championships 2019 , Doha Moments
via

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

Noah Lyles breaks Usain Bolt's meeting record over 200m in Lausanne – IAAF Diamond League 2019
via the

on YouTube
Noah Lyles catches Christian Coleman at the line in the 100m at Shanghai – IAAF Diamond League 2019
via the Diamond League on YouTube
Noah Lyles Wins 100-Meter National Championship
via

Team USA The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country ...

on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Lyles, Noah 1997 births Living people Sportspeople from Alexandria, Virginia Track and field athletes from Virginia American male sprinters African-American male track and field athletes Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Championships winners Diamond League winners IAAF Continental Cup winners USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners Youth Olympic gold medalists for the United States Youth Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) T. C. Williams High School alumni Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in track and field 21st-century African-American sportspeople