Noah Lyles gets painful but much-needed reality check

USA's Noah Lyles was one of the big stars of the 2024 Paris Olympics, claiming gold in the men's 100m final with a time of 9.78s.

Lyles missed out on winning a historic double gold at the Paris Games, having finished third in the 200m final - his signature event. Lyles had to be wheelchaired off the track, and he was later discovered to have the COVID-19 virus.

Despite missing the Lausanne and Silesia Diamond League meets, Lyles has created more headlines after announcing his quite unbelievable plans for 2025.

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The 100m gold medallist has already called out the NBA and NFL for naming their winners 'World Champions' and even challenged NFL star Tyreek Hill to a race. Lyles has been known to bet on himself, but could his new 2025 plan be too unrealistic?

According to Essentially Sport, Lyles mentioned that he will now be aiming at breaking the men's 400m world record. He said: "If I decide to move to the 400m and truly give it 100% for multiple years, I'm going after the world record."

Speaking on the 'Tidal League' Podcast, US legend Justin Gatlin and Bahamas track star Rodney Green agreed that taking on the 400m would not be a good thing for Lyles to do in the future.

Green said: "Man, I'm not listening to Noah. I heard that Take, tell Noah to handle those 200 meters first, you know what I mean? Don't bite off more than he can chew."

Should Lyles continue to focus on the 100 and 200m instead? The US star has a better chance of breaking the 200m world record, having recorded a best time of 19:31 and the WR being 19.19s.

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Usain Bolt's record of 9.58s from 2009 looks relatively unbeatable at this point, and Lyles hasn't been able to scare it, with his best time coming in the final at the Paris Olympics (9.78s).

The Citius Mag website reports that the last time Lyles ran an open 400m was in 2016 when he was a senior in high school. He ran a personal best of 47.04 at the age of 18, and that highlights how little we know about his true capabilities in the discipline.

The men's 400m world record was set at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro by Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa, setting a time of 43.03 seconds.

What should Lyles do? Is the 400m a realistic target, or should he continue to defend and secure more gold medals in the 100 or 200m? Let us know in the comments!

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