Superstar sprinter Noah Lyles has his eyes on making history at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. The Gainesville native is the favorite to win gold medals in the 100 meter and 200 meter races. If successful, Lyles would be the first American sprinter to capture gold in the events since Justin Gatlin won the 100 meter and Shawn Crawford won the 200 meter at the Athens Games in 2004.

An accomplished runner, Lyles is almost universally regarded as the best sprinter in the world. In 2020, he won the bronze medal at Tokyo Olympics in 200 and is a six-time World champion. Last year, he became the first man since Usain Bolt in 2015 to complete the sprint treble at a World Championships.

Fresh off his dominating 100-meter win at US Olympic track and field trials on Sunday (June 23) where he matched his personal-best time in the 100 meter at 9.83, Lyles shared how he was raised to excel on the track.

“Both my parents were track and field athletes so I've been around the track since I was born. Going to track meats, as a young child was very normal. My godmother Jearl Atawa Miles Clark was a five-time Olympian,” Lyles said. “Her daughter Joetta Clark Diggs is a track and field athlete as well. Track runs deep in our family. I used to get disciplined with the baton [Laughed].”

Interestingly, Lyles' first love was basketball before he found his true calling on the track.

“I always knew I was fast as a kid but I wanted to go play basketball like every other Black kid. At first, getting into sports was hard because my parents didn't want me to play because my asthma was so bad,” he recalled. “Eventually, I was taking enough medication that my asthma wasn't as big of an issue and they allowed me to play basketball and other team sports.”

“I realized that my ambition was stronger than everybody else's when I was about 12 years old. I was like, ‘I can't keep doing this team stuff. I'm gonna go find an individual sport.’ At the time, my dad was coaching track so I went to a youth club and tested it out,” he explained. “I really got into it and I felt like I was in control of my destiny. I don't have to worry about other people determining the outcomes. It was all on me.”

When he began to get serious about track, he set his eyes on winning a gold medal at the Olympics.

“I remember watching the 2012 Olympics while I was at the Junior Olympics. At the opening ceremony, my brother jumped up and said, ‘Yo. We’re going to the Olympics. if we drop a second each year, we’ll be at the 2016 Olympics.’ I think I was like 15 years old when he said that. We committed to the goal. From that point on, we never looked back.”

After winning the bronze medal in the 200 meter at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, Lyles spoke about the work that he put in and the lessons he’s learned that place him in the position to capture gold medals in multiple events in Paris.

“One of the biggest lessons I learned is that nobody is deserving. I am obviously the fastest on paper and I deserve to win. This was the way I used to think because I was coming out of depression and staying motivated was hard for me. I was trying to use that as one of my tactics,” he said. “Once I was struggling to motivate myself during a race and I was like, ‘I'm gonna keep running because I deserve this’ but I came in third place. I had an average race and the two guys had their best performances ever. I was like, ‘That won’t happen again.’ There is no deserving. Everything is earned on that day. Not the day before or the next day.” 

When asked about dealing with the high expectations of bringing home several gold medals, Lyles shared that he welcomes the challenge.

“I prayed for this day. This is the day that I've been waiting on and I’ve dreamed of big moments. I’m a moment maker and moment creator,” Lyles said. “That's what I love to do. I love when the pressure is at its highest because that’s when I flourish the most. Every time someone says, ‘This Olympics is gonna be great,’ I’m like, ‘Good. That means that I'm more likely to win.’”

As an adidas athlete and an advocate for mental health, Lyles is leading the brand’s campaign to overcome pressure and to bring joy back to sports. The initiative seeks to “help disarm negative pressure in sport by working with elite and grassroots athletes to reveal the impact it can have on performance.”

“You dream of being the face of a campaign as a kid. All the things I dreamed about, are now happening,” Lyles said. “I couldn't even talk about it when my depression was really bad in 2021. Now, when people ask me about stress and strengthening my mental state, I can share my story. It's not a job, but it's an enjoyment. This is just part of the story that I'm creating.”

Offering a behind-the-scenes look at his journey, his docuseries “Untitled: The Noah Lyles Project” is currently airing on Peacock. The in-depth series shows Lyles and his family as he prepares for the biggest races of his athletic career. He spoke about the creation of the series.

“I’m a part of a Christian family and my mom taught me that I was God's favorite.  We're all God's favorite,” he recalled. “Along with track, God gave me a lot of creative tools. Because I knew 2023 was going to be a big year for me, I wanted to record everything. I I wanted my own docuseries because there were no track and field athletes that were doing it at the time.”

“I told my agent, Mark Wetmore, who’s the best agent in the world, that I made a YouTube video and it looks like a frickin movie,” he continued. “Imagine multiple episodes around the timeline of me going into the Olympics. He thought it was perfect. Eventually, through his connections, we came up with a strategy and Peacock latched on to it. I’m very thankful because I had a lot of favor with sponsors who donated to the project. There were times when we were teetering on the line about if it was gonna get done. Once we started, everything fell into motion. Also, Scott Boggins was an excellent director.”

“I also must thank my family because they agreed to be a part of the series. I had to make sure that everybody was comfortable and gave their blessing,” he added.

Without question, all eyes will be on Lyles as he competes in some of the most popular events at the Paris Olympics. After years of preparation, he is ready for his coronation as one of the all-time greatest sprinters.

“I'm looking for a movie. In Tokyo, it was dead silent because there were no fans and after a while they weren't even letting the athletes come watch other athletes. It was bad,” he said. “So I'm trying to see the stands packed with people. I want to see people go crazy when they see the athletes. I want to see fashion all over the place. I want to see every star coming to watch these competitions. At the end of the day, I'm trying to grab everything.”