Can we talk about Noah Lyles?

girl what?!?! Lyles is a lot of things but hot is not one of them. yes, he's dorky but okay oh well. that alone must just piss his competitors off more when he keeps beating them in races. it is true though that the sprinting community thinks he's lame asf. everything with him is forced.

maybe he'd be better if he just totally leaned into what i think is his authentic self (the anime, more of the Yared-type of goofiness) and just left the crazy helmets and the wannabe clickbait "World champion of what?" behind

I mean he had a show on Peacock. And lol, I know Fred has shot him some looks. I for one am entertained.

Prove it.

join this group, if they will let you. (doubtful) it's run in part by Jon Drummond and anyone who's anyone or ever been anyone in the sprint world posts there. There is no doubt what the consensus is on Lyles.

That is quite clearly not “turning away sprint fans”.

You think they are paying for Peacock to see Lyles prance around in his helmet and nails? Newsflash! They aint, and if no one is paying, no one is going to go out of there way to broadcast it so you all can cry some more about Flotrack and runnerspace and peacock and blah blah blah.

Rooting against him is not the same as turning them away. Quite the opposite.

I know that they didn’t cancel Peacock because of someone boring old pros want to root against.

You get it.

They don't show up. Have you seen any actual sellouts lately? (other than Lyles of course) They would show up for Bolt. They would kill to get a ticket to see Bolt live. No one leaves the house for Lyles, that's literally the definition of "turning them away."

Bolt is a pretty high standard to hold him to. He’s working with what he has. Does it generate more interest than if he was a silent “hard” tough guy? I think so.

Track can use some athletes with a personality, enter.....Noah Lyles.

As long as the guy delivers the goods, all is good. So far so good.

He strikes me as someone is opposite the "cool kids", and isn't afraid to show it. It's awesome. I don't know how someone could like anime but the fact that he does, and doesn't hide it, is awesome.

Give the guy a break. Mentally, he's hanging on by a thin thread. He struggles with depression and suicidal thoughts. If I were you, I'd ask the Brojo's to delete your post.

His weird voice crack at 1:05 is all I think of when I see him

He backed it up at Worlds. Best to just give him his props. And if you like someone else better, root for them.

He recognizes the sport is in a post-Bolt lull where the transcendent athlete that appeals to everyone is gone and he wants to be that athlete. The key is that beyond bringing the hype and excitement, as well as the excellent interviews, he backs it up on the track. He had weaknesses in his start and hence, the 60m and 100m. He was even beaten at the 200m at the Olympics. He went back to work, got his head right, he overcome those weaknesses by strengthening his acceleration (his start was STILL lacking even in the 6.43 60m over Coleman) and he is looking to knock on the door of those world records now. He is great for the sport.

I use my mom to gauge how popular a track athlete is outside of the insider's bubble we live in. The two athletes she's brought up the past few years have been Lyles and Sha'Carri. Both into putting on a show.

Noah's goofy and kinda cringy, but if I could Freaky Friday with him, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Dude's beating the world and having fun.

He's winning so he backs it up. Unlike "The Problem" Bronner in boxing talking smack and always getting his ass kicked. lol