Noah Lyles Sprints Headlong Into His Sport’s Visibility Problem

Noah Lyles has no problem saying he’s the fastest man in the world. The nation’s most beloved (and hated) track star wants you to know it too.

The 27-year-old has his sights set on not just winning two individual and two relay gold medals at the Paris Olympics but also snapping Usain Bolt’s elusive 100-meter and 200-meter world records.

His bravado on and off the track has drawn attention from fans worldwide—but one of his most memorable comments wasn’t even about track. After Lyles won gold in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 4×100-meter relay at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest last August, he spoke out about NBA players crowning themselves as world champions.

“You know the thing that hurts me the most?” Lyles said at a press conference. “I have to watch the NBA Finals, and they have world champion on their head. 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.” And to no surprise, Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard and other NBA stars clapped back.

Lyles has since doubled down on that long-debated notion, adding to his reputation as a world-class talent who often gets frustrated by the amount of attention his Team USA counterparts on the men’s basketball team receive compared to him, a six-time world gold medalist.

The lack of notoriety for Lyles, especially in non-Olympic years, is perhaps indicative of track and field‘s status as a whole. It’s a sport that struggles to tap into the mainstream world of sports.

“Track athletes have become amazing ambassadors for themselves out of necessity,” Grand Slam Track president Steve Gera said in an interview. “It’s largely themselves and their shoes companies telling their stories.” (Lyles’ marketing agency Global Athletics didn’t respond to request for comment for this story.)

But even sneaker partner relationships can create controversy. Earlier this year, Lyles inked a lucrative extension with Adidas through the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles—reportedly the largest track and field contract since Usain Bolt’s deals. But the agreement came after some annoyance caused when the footwear giant invited him to a sneaker release event for NBA star and Adidas frontman Anthony Edwards last year. Lyles, while recalling the invite to support Edwards, told Time, “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?’”

The nation’s most popular pro athletes are unsurprisingly some of the most competitive, including in their business endeavors. It’s not entirely surprising to see a brand mate be peeved by the extra attention and campaign dollars spent on another athlete who they perceive as less deserving.

“[Lyles] clearly should be a star,” former Adidas marketing guru and Ring Night co-founder Zach Soskin said in an interview. “And I think coming out of these Olympics he will, maybe not Anthony Edwards level, but be [deemed] the biggest male star in track and field. But it’s got to be frustrating if you’re him when you’re that world championship level athlete with that personality and swagger.”

Lyles, who recently appeared on The Tonight Show and is featured prominently in the Netflix documentary series Sprint, has expressed before that for him it’s not just about uplifting his brand and national exposure but also shedding more light on the sport in general so fans can enjoy it more.

“I want to know, how are we going to shift the idea of track and field in the people’s mind to where this is entertainment,” he told GQ earlier this month.

American Track League founder Paul Doyle says it isn’t Lyles’ fault that the sport has been stuck in “amateurism mode” and places its longtime shortcomings on administrators and former decision makers at international governing body World Athletics. “It’s been almost 40 years since we’ve been out of amateurism, but we still act like an amateur sport,” Doyle said. “We don’t have all the answers, but we’re trying to make changes.”

Lyles may be the fastest man in the world, but his limited visibility is indicative of the issues across track and field, which doesn’t have a unifying pro league that regularly promotes its athletes like the NBA (Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam Track looks to solve the conundrum when the new league launches next year). Track and field athletes and fans alike meanwhile have become increasingly frustrated with the lack of national promotion and marketing efforts behind the sport. Lyles sent out a tweet in March about the relatively few ads on TV leading up to the USATF Olympic Team Trials.

It’s a nagging pain for the 100-meter reigning world champ who comfortably talks up his greatness but doesn’t have enough of an audience to witness it.

“[Lyles] is a unique athlete who is not afraid to say what he’s capable of doing on the track,” Gera said. “He’ll put it out there … He’s able to make audacious claims and then he goes out there and backs it up on a consistent basis. The problem is it’s just him in a vacuum right now.”

NBCUniversal, which owns the U.S. media rights for the Olympic Games through 2032, has a strong incentive to tell Lyles’ story as it looks to drive viewership for one of the most watched sports of the Summer Games. Lyles, who will appear in a second season of Sprint that follows his journey in Paris, meanwhile looks to quiet his haters and cement himself as the world’s top track and field athlete. It’ll only add to the momentum for himself ahead of the next Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.

“Noah has got to understand too that it’s not going to happen overnight,” Doyle added. “I call him the hardest working man in the sport. He’s doing all the right things … The opportunity is prime right now, not just for Noah but the entire sport.”