SAINT-DENIS, France — Anyone hoping for some humility from Noah Lyles will appreciate the story he told Monday after easily winning his heat in the first round of the men’s 200 meters.
Hours after he had the world abuzz from his dramatic win in the men’s 100 meters, Lyles was making another run for his girlfriend. Jamaican sprinter Junelle Bromfield left her spikes at their massage therapists’ Airbnb, which Lyles said is next to the Olympic village.
He was on his way from the massage therapist back to the village when she asked him to pick up her bag with the spikes. Of course, he did.
His reward for the greatest moment of his professional life was carrying his bag, her bag “and some toiletries” to the Olympic village, walking gingerly to preserve his spent legs.
At 2 a.m.
“Here I am,” Lyles said with a smile, feigning exasperation. “Olympic champion in the 100 meters, waddling to my girlfriend’s room with all this stuff. I’m a good boyfriend.”
GO DEEPER
Noah Lyles’ mouth wrote the check. On the Olympics stage, his feet cashed it
To be fair, she was scheduled to run in the first round of the women’s 400 meters at about noon on Monday. Lyles wasn’t scheduled to run until 9 p.m.
She finished third in her heat and qualified for the semifinals. Lyles was unaffected. He won his heat in a smooth 20.19 seconds. Though it was only the sixth-fastest time of the first round, it did nothing to dismiss his claims he won’t be defeated in the event.
“That was just kind of getting the legs moving,” Lyles said.
It’s been quite the 24 hours for Lyles, who snatched the spotlight of these Olympics. But with his main event still to go, Lyles said he didn’t do much to celebrate.
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“I peed in a cup. Did media. Got a massage,” said Lyles, who took part in the medal ceremony at the end of the night’s festivities. “I watched a few videos. I watched Total Running Projections. I’m a big fan of the YouTube channel. I watched … people playing video games. Then I fell asleep.”
But he did watch the race and re-live his legendary moment. Last night. This morning. Multiple times throughout the day.
“When I first saw it,” he said, “I was like, ‘Ah, I really was in last place.’”
Lyles said it wasn’t that he got out slow. Looking at the data, he is convinced the rest of the field just had amazing starts. He said his splits over the first 60 meters were good.
But what happened to put him over the top was a goal of his he finally reached. He’s been looking for a particular time on one of his 10-meter splits.
Required reading
(Photo: Ben Stansall / AFP via Getty Images)
