Noah Lyles has called for the production of a running shoe bearing his name after becoming Olympic champion in the 100 metres.
The American sprinter confirmed his gold medal at last year’s world championships by winning a thrilling 100m final in Paris by just 0.005 seconds ahead of Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson.
And Lyles now believes he should have a shoe named after him, just like basketball legend Michael Jordan.
“I want my own shoe,” the 27-year-old said. “I want my own trainer. That’s serious. I want a sneaker.
‘There’s no money in spikes, there’s money in sneakers. Even Michael Johnson didn’t own a sneaker.
Noah Lyles (right) and Kishane Thompson nervously waited for the winner of the 100m
‘The amount of medals we bring back, the notoriety we get, the fact that that didn’t happen, I think that’s crazy. It has to happen.’
Lyles ran a personal best of 9.79 seconds to win his first Olympic gold medal, but he was only declared the winner in a photo finish, with him admitting he thought Thompson had beaten him.
“After the race, while we were still waiting for the names, I came up to Kishane and said, ‘I think you have a big dog,’” Lyles said.
“When my name came up, I was like, ‘Oh my god, I’m amazing.’ I wasn’t ready to see my name.”
Lyles is now confident he can confirm his 100m title with victories in the 200m and the 4x100m relay, just as he did at the world championships.
“I’m pretty sure, I can’t lie,” he said. “I’m going to win. When they come out of the turn, they’re going to be depressed.
Lyles won the race by the narrowest of margins, netting another goal for the US
‘The 200 meters is my best event and now that I have set a personal record in the 100 meters, I am ready to run the same in the 200 meters.’
Lyles’ victory made up for the disappointment he suffered at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, when he finished third in the 200 meters after missing out on the U.S. team in the 100 meters.
Asked when he first felt motivated to win gold in Paris, Lyles pulled out his bronze medal from Tokyo and said: “I was motivated immediately when I saw that in my hand. The journey started after 2021 when I got the bronze medal and I said, ‘I have to change.’
‘Now I’m going around as an Olympic champion. I have that title as the fastest man in the world. This has been years of work.
“This is the one I wanted. I wanted to prove that I am the man among them all. I am the wolf among wolves.”
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Lyles then also challenged his friend Snoop Dogg, who was in Paris to cheer on the American team, to a race.
“If Snoop wants to line up, we’ll line up and we’ll go racing,” he said.
