I took my teen son to worlds in Eugene. Lyles was the only athlete my son approached who would not sign an autograph or have a picture taken with him. So F--- him.
I don't think Noah nor some posters actually realize how silly the WRs in the sprints are.
200m will always have a small percentage possibility for him given his current PB. 0.12 seconds in a 200m is definitely doable for him. Slightly better start, ideal conditions, good lane, competition. Tons of things can boost him towards a tiny PB.
He didn't say he CAN break it, he said he'd like to take a SHOT.
The dude is a far better 200M runner than 100M. He genuinely could have a chance, given his PR is 19.31 and there are several 400M athletes that run sub 44 and have slower 200M times than him.
Michael Johnson's PR was 19.32 as we all know, and he went on to run 43.18
I could absolutely see Noah Lyles running the quarter and honestly might even go as far as saying he'd be better in that event than the 100M. His top speed is unmatched.
Remember, Fred Kerley ran 43.6 back in the day but he still kicks ass as a 100M/200M guy. Michael Norman could too (once he gets his act together). There's no reason Lyles wouldn't be able to especially with how fast his 200M PR is.
We’ve seen countless athletes that start at 400m and move down, but who in history has moved up, apart from Jareem Richards, who was kind of already a quarter miler, but not a specialist.
Michael Johnson started out as a 200 runner who ran 400 only on relays until after college. Michael Norman was a 100/200M guy in HS before moving up in college. 1968 200M Olympic champion Tommy Smith beat 1968 400M champion Lee Evans in a 440Y in 1966 or 67, breaking the then-world record. I'm sure there are other examples -- in fact, moving DOWN, as Kerley did, is far less common. Noah's brother Josephus was a world Junior 4x4 gold medalist in 2014 and world youth silver medalist at 400 in 2015, but it was Noah who had the fastest time of 45.6 on their HS 4x4 team at the Penn Relays in 2016. I was there for that race and he was pretty amazing. Could he break the WR some day? I don't know, but I'm sure he could run very fast if he trained for it. That said, I don't think the U.S. should be putting him on 4/x4 in global competitions unless and until he proves it by running some high-class open 400s.