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Join Telegram ChannelSince Usain Bolt hung up his boots, athletics has been searching for the new face of the sport and could well find it this weekend.
Noah Lyles is chasing four gold medals. The American sprinter will run in the 100m, 200m and the 4x100m relay, while his participation in the 4x400m relay is uncertain (although he is preparing for it).
You might think it would get boring to see the same person win every time. Bolt won the 100m, 200m and 4x100m three times from 2008 to 2016. (The 2008 4x100m team was eventually disqualified, due to Jamaican Nesta Carter testing positive for a banned substance.)
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Carl Lewis says athletics 'needs' Noah Lyles to become the face of the sport. (Getty Images)
However, Carl Lewis, a nine-time Olympic gold medalist and arguably the last American track and field athlete, says there is “no doubt” it would be “better for the sport” if Lyles won at least two gold medals in Paris.
“I think the sport needs someone like him, a champion. He’s the reigning champion, the fastest man in the world right now, and we need someone to lean on. I think he’s the perfect guy to do that, and I’m excited about that,” Lewis told Fox News Digital in a recent interview.
“I think athletics is better when you have a superstar. That’s why I think if Noah won, he would elevate the sport. Instead of saying, ‘I wonder who’s going to win,’ people would say, ‘I want them to’ or ‘I don’t want them to.’ They want to cheer for someone or they want to oppose someone. I think it creates more intensity when you have someone who’s dominant, and that’s been the case throughout history. . . . People really gravitated toward the sport when people were really more dominant.”
Noah Lyles of the United States celebrates after winning silver in the men's 60m final on day one of the 2024 IAAF World Indoor Athletics Championships at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland. (Sam Barnes/Sportsfile via Getty Images)
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Lewis is in Paris with Lyles after the track stars teamed up with Tide, a dream pairing for the former long jumper, who got “really dirty” competing. It’s also a way for the nine-time Olympic gold medalist to connect with the average person. To stay clean, “we have to do the simple things that everybody else has to do,” he says.
But joining the campaign with Lyles was a “no-brainer,” he said.
“When they reached out to me and talked about doing something with Noah, it was really exciting. He’s an exciting young athlete, I’m a really big fan of his… It was a no-brainer, a quick, quick, quick yes,” Lewis said.
He may be an expert, and deep down he probably has several predictions about Lyles' Olympic fate, but he doesn't make them public.
“I've never made a prediction, and I'm going to keep doing that, because all of a sudden they're running up to Noah and saying, 'Carl said you're going to win today.' So I'm going to stay out of it,” he jokes.
Noah Lyles of Team USA competes in the men's 60 meters heats during day one of the Glasgow 2024 IAAF World Indoor Athletics Championships at Emirates Arena on March 1, 2024 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Michael Steele/Getty Images)
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Lyles will compete in the 100m final on Sunday afternoon, the 200m (his best event where he is aiming for a world record) on Thursday and the 4x100m relay on Friday. And, just in case, the 4x400m will be held on Saturday.
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