Facts about Us Sprint Star Noah Lyles

Following the end of Usain Bolt's career, athletics is on the lookout for a new hero to fill the gap left by the Jamaican. Noah Lyles is self-confident and eager to attack: ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, he says his goal is clearly to win gold in the 100 and 200 meters. He also believes that Bolt's world record for both distances can be beaten. But things turned out differently - Lyles did not qualify for the Olympics in the 100m and only won bronze in the 200m. After the Tokyo Games, Lyles continued to work on his dreams and is getting closer and closer to them: Lyles narrowly won gold in the 100m at the 2024 Olympics in Paris - but Usain Bolt's world record still stands. However, it doesn't seem impossible that Lyles could claim it for himself. However, his collection of titles is already impressive:

• Olympic champion 2024 (100m)
• Olympic bronze medalist 2020 (200m)
• 6x World Championship gold (100m, 3x 200m, 2x 4x100m)
• 4x winner in the Diamond League finals (200m)

In 2020, Noah Lyles revealed in a tweet that he was suffering from mental health problems and was therefore taking antidepressants, which had been "one of the best decisions" for him. Afterwards, Lyles continued to publicly campaign for the destigmatization of mental illness and spoke openly about his treatment. "I've had a sports therapist since high school when I was 16. I also have a personal therapist who helps me with everyday concerns. Mental health is very important, and family and close friends can also be a big help in the worst of times."

Following the murder of George Floyd, Noah Lyles also made his mark in the spirit of the Black Lives Matter movement. Time and again, most recently at the US Championships in the run-up to the Olympic Games, he competes with a black glove in the tradition of the "Black Power" movement. Before the 100m final at the US trials, he raised his fist at the starting line. "We're still dying in the streets. Just because we're not talking on the news anymore and the Olympics are just around the corner doesn't mean it's not happening anymore," he said afterwards.

Noah Lyles' second home besides the world's tartan tracks is the music studio: he has already released a good dozen singles and EPs between 2018 and 2020 under the name "Nojo18". His style: rap in the style of Kanye West. Lyles ignores the current trap and mumble rap trend.

Lyles has suffered from asthma since childhood. In order to avoid contact during the coronavirus pandemic and still be able to train, he often switched to parking lots for his daily training. But for Lyles, going without was nothing new: he grew up with his mother and brother in a one-room apartment and, in addition to asthma, also suffered from ADHD and a reading and spelling disorder. Lyles himself says that this is the main reason why he keeps surprising audiences with new hairstyles and extravagant outfits. "It's very important to me, it helps me get out of my head, which can happen quite easily as someone with ADHD and depression and anxiety," he says. "It helps me to be myself, it helps me to have fun, it helps me to get out there and give the audience something to look forward to."

At the age of 14, Lyles realized what his goal in life would be: To compete as an athlete at the Olympic Games. This was triggered by the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games in London, conceived by star director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire). "It was at that moment that it clicked," recalls Lyles: "My brother gave me the idea and so it became one of those moments when you think: 'I want to do that', before thinking: 'No, wait, I can do that! Then it turned into: 'We'll do it!"

As the biggest gold medal hopeful in US athletics, Lyles has attracted giant brands as sponsors and partners:

• Adidas
• Omega
• Coca-Cola
• Visa
• Xfinity
• Intel
• Red Bull