Noah Lyles says it’s challenging being popular in the Athletes’ Village as he sets sights on maiden Olympic gold
Noah Lyles of the United States speaks during a Team USA Track & Field press conference on day three of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at the Main Press Centre on July 29, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images)
PARIS, July 29, 2024 – American sprinter Noah Lyles is looking to banish the painful memories of his Olympic debut in Tokyo three years ago here at Paris 2024. And he has three therapists to keep his mental health in check as he eyes gold in three events: 100m, 200m and 4x100m. “I have an everyday therapist, I have a sports therapist, and I have a grief therapist, and each one of them has different skills and abilities,” the reigning 100m and 200m world champion said at a press conference on Monday.
He added: “As I go into this biggest stage in the world, I'm now saying, Hey, I've been through the hardest parts. I've been at the bottom. I've fought my way back up. I've fixed the weaknesses. Now here I am stronger than before. If I lose this time, it's not going to be because I beat myself, it's just going to be that they had to be that much better. But to be honest, with Noah Lyles being Noah Lyles, there's nobody.”
BEING POPULAR He however revealed that being a popular figure in the Olympic Village has been challenging. “As you guys know, Sprint came out. Have you guys watched it? By the way, I love it. I'm glad you love it. Apparently the world does love Sprint, and athletes do too, and I've become kind of popular in the village, and unfortunately, that has come with its own set of challenges in being able to find my own space within the village, whether that's eating or training in the gym.
“I know some athletes like to leave the village and stay in hotels, but I like to enjoy the whole Olympic experience, being with other athletes and stuff like that. But it has come with its own challenge of finding my own safe place, and it's been kind of hard for me to find that place within the village, and I don't want to leave.”
He explained that he just wanted to raise awareness about the situation, as he doesn’t think he is the only one going through the same thing.
“I'm not even the most popular person in the village, so I know I'm not the only one who's had to deal with situations like this, and I just wanted to bring that to people's attention, that even though we might be superstars in your eyes, we still are human beings, and we do want to be able to have our space and our time. And, I want to enjoy the Olympics just like you guys.
“I've now been finding myself eating at very random times in the back of the cafeteria, just to kind of have my space with just my girlfriend as we're just trying to enjoy a meal. I’m just being vocal and being very honest with myself.”
TOKYO 2020 Lyles struggled with depression during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which took place in 2021, and was very vocal about this. “That mindset of it's just another competition was definitely ringing in my mind. Trying to get through this depression, I was just like, you don't have to make it a big thing. You do this every day. You do this all the time. You know, there's nobody out there who can handle like, you got this, but I'm an emotional person and when I got to the finals and we walked into that empty stadium, I remember being so hot.”
Lyles says usually the moment when he is just standing behind their blocks is when he says “it’s showtime!” in his head. But Tokyo was different. “And I just remember ‘this is not it. This is not fun. This is not cool. This is not what I wanted. This is not what I thought it was going to be like’.”
He said after Tokyo, where he settled for bronze in the 200m, he knew some things had to change. “I needed to self reflect. ‘What is it going to take for me to be confident enough to go into a meet and say, even on my off day, I'm still going to win.’ And that's where I put my nose to the grindstone. That's when I decided to get uncomfortable. Throwing myself into events that are just not me. This year I got a silver medal in the 60 meters at the Indoor World Championships. There's tons of people out there who claim that I have a horrible start, but somebody with a horrible start can't get a silver medal in the 60m.”
PARIS 2024 The Male Track Athlete of the Year by World Athletics (2023) is very confident about his chances in Paris, especially with the return of spectators to stands. “This is what I've prayed for. Is what I dream of. These moments right here, I get more excited the bigger the crowd is. In fact, if there is no crowd that is most likely when you will see me lose.”
He added: “The line between confidence and cocky is so blurred. It's all an opinion, but I usually say, if you've looked at my life and seen what I've had to go through. I've literally been told ‘you can't do’ most of my life… But here I am every time, saying I'm going to do it anyway, and achieving almost everything that I put my mind to. And it's gaining that confidence each step of the way that slowly builds it up higher and higher and higher. So I can understand why some people can't see the vision that I see. And I don't blame anybody for that, but don't disprove my vision just because I want to go after it.”
Lyles was wearing his “Made It” hat, which was given to the Americans who qualified for Paris 2024. “It's now my favourite hat. I have not really taken it off since making the team, and I just feel like that's to remind myself to enjoy the moment. This is fun. This is amazing. This is very surreal.”
He added: “As I go into this biggest stage in the world, I'm now saying, Hey, I've been through the hardest parts. I've been at the bottom. I've fought my way back up. I've fixed the weaknesses. Now here I am stronger than before. If I lose this time, it's not going to be because I beat myself, it's just going to be that they had to be that much better. But to be honest, with Noah Lyles being Noah Lyles, there's nobody.”
BEING POPULAR He however revealed that being a popular figure in the Olympic Village has been challenging. “As you guys know, Sprint came out. Have you guys watched it? By the way, I love it. I'm glad you love it. Apparently the world does love Sprint, and athletes do too, and I've become kind of popular in the village, and unfortunately, that has come with its own set of challenges in being able to find my own space within the village, whether that's eating or training in the gym.
“I know some athletes like to leave the village and stay in hotels, but I like to enjoy the whole Olympic experience, being with other athletes and stuff like that. But it has come with its own challenge of finding my own safe place, and it's been kind of hard for me to find that place within the village, and I don't want to leave.”
He explained that he just wanted to raise awareness about the situation, as he doesn’t think he is the only one going through the same thing.
“I'm not even the most popular person in the village, so I know I'm not the only one who's had to deal with situations like this, and I just wanted to bring that to people's attention, that even though we might be superstars in your eyes, we still are human beings, and we do want to be able to have our space and our time. And, I want to enjoy the Olympics just like you guys.
“I've now been finding myself eating at very random times in the back of the cafeteria, just to kind of have my space with just my girlfriend as we're just trying to enjoy a meal. I’m just being vocal and being very honest with myself.”
TOKYO 2020 Lyles struggled with depression during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which took place in 2021, and was very vocal about this. “That mindset of it's just another competition was definitely ringing in my mind. Trying to get through this depression, I was just like, you don't have to make it a big thing. You do this every day. You do this all the time. You know, there's nobody out there who can handle like, you got this, but I'm an emotional person and when I got to the finals and we walked into that empty stadium, I remember being so hot.”
Lyles says usually the moment when he is just standing behind their blocks is when he says “it’s showtime!” in his head. But Tokyo was different. “And I just remember ‘this is not it. This is not fun. This is not cool. This is not what I wanted. This is not what I thought it was going to be like’.”
He said after Tokyo, where he settled for bronze in the 200m, he knew some things had to change. “I needed to self reflect. ‘What is it going to take for me to be confident enough to go into a meet and say, even on my off day, I'm still going to win.’ And that's where I put my nose to the grindstone. That's when I decided to get uncomfortable. Throwing myself into events that are just not me. This year I got a silver medal in the 60 meters at the Indoor World Championships. There's tons of people out there who claim that I have a horrible start, but somebody with a horrible start can't get a silver medal in the 60m.”
PARIS 2024 The Male Track Athlete of the Year by World Athletics (2023) is very confident about his chances in Paris, especially with the return of spectators to stands. “This is what I've prayed for. Is what I dream of. These moments right here, I get more excited the bigger the crowd is. In fact, if there is no crowd that is most likely when you will see me lose.”
He added: “The line between confidence and cocky is so blurred. It's all an opinion, but I usually say, if you've looked at my life and seen what I've had to go through. I've literally been told ‘you can't do’ most of my life… But here I am every time, saying I'm going to do it anyway, and achieving almost everything that I put my mind to. And it's gaining that confidence each step of the way that slowly builds it up higher and higher and higher. So I can understand why some people can't see the vision that I see. And I don't blame anybody for that, but don't disprove my vision just because I want to go after it.”
Lyles was wearing his “Made It” hat, which was given to the Americans who qualified for Paris 2024. “It's now my favourite hat. I have not really taken it off since making the team, and I just feel like that's to remind myself to enjoy the moment. This is fun. This is amazing. This is very surreal.”
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