Back in April, Tate Taylor ran 20.05 seconds at the Tom Jones meet, breaking Noah Lyles’ previous U.S. high school record of 20.09. Lyles, who was also at the meet, asked the teenager, “Why don’t you just turn pro?” Taylor, however, stayed committed to his college plans. Four months later, the similarities between the two sprinters grew even stronger when Taylor became the first American man since Lyles in 2016 to win the World U20 100m title. While Taylor is following a path that resembles Lyles’ early career, his next step is very different.

After becoming a high school star, Lyles turned professional in 2016 rather than going to college. Taylor, despite running 19.75 in the 200 m on July 4, 2026, at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon, where he defeated Letsile Tebogo, the Paris 2024 Olympic 200m champion, has chosen to attend Texas Tech first. The teenager has made it clear that he does not feel any pressure to rush into professional athletics and wants to experience college before making that move.

“There’s just no rush to go pro,” Taylor says, explaining his decision to Olympics.com. “It’s not an Olympic year, it’s not a crazy year for athletics.”

The teenager also spoke about people who felt that he should go pro instead of going to college. “There’s no reason to go to college, you’ll get hurt, whatever.’ God has put no desire in my heart to go pro, so I’m not going pro just because somebody else wants me to.”

Taylor’s choice is particularly big as his runs have already put him among the best sprinters. He won the 100m race in 9.94 seconds at the 2026 World Athletics U20 Championships. That wasn’t enough, however, for Taylor. He won the 200m in the championship in 19.83 and went on to set a world U20 record of 38.16 in the 4x100m relay.

His three gold medals in four days made him the first man in the 40-year history of the World U20 Championships to complete the sprint treble. The achievement added another layer to the comparison with Lyles, who also won the World U20 100m title in 2016 before moving directly into the professional ranks.

Taylor’s connection with Lyles, however, goes beyond their World U20 achievements. When Taylor broke Lyles’ high school 200m record, the Olympic champion was there to witness it. Lyles then encouraged the teenager to turn professional, but Taylor had already decided that college was the right choice for him. “There’s just no rush to go pro,” Taylor said.

His reasoning is simple. “College is a privilege. Not everybody gets to go to college,” he said. In fact, he sees the difference between his career and Lyles’ as something worth embracing.

“My rise is very similar to his,” Taylor said. “He had plenty of records on the high school level, but he turned pro straight out of high school. So I’m going to one-up him. I’m going to go to college.” Taylor’s decision set him apart from Lyles, but the two Americans would soon have a chance to share the track. 

Tate Taylor pushes Noah Lyles before making a bigger leap

Noah Lyles and Tate Taylor went head-to-head in the men’s 100m at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix in Tokyo on May 17, 2026. Lyles, competing in his first 100m of the 2026 international outdoor season, won the final in 9.95 seconds, while 18-year-old Taylor finished second in 10.04. Great Britain’s Jake Odey-Jordan took third in 10.09.

Lyles had earlier recorded a time of 10.05 in a 1.1 m/s headwind, but improved to 9.95 in the final. Taylor’s second-place result was especially impressive, since he was still a mere 18 years old when he competed against the Olympic champion Lyles and was separated from him by only 0.09 seconds.

A few months later, Taylor’s rise reached another level at the World U20 Championships. Lyles followed it up on X, commending the feat. He wrote, “This double Gold that Tate Taylor and Mia Maxwell just pulled off is probably one of the hardest to do. Mostly because of how hard the schedule is. 6 races in 4 days is SOOO hard on the body. Then to do it as U20 athletes is even crazier.” Lyles’ words showed that he was closely following Taylor’s progress, but their connection could become even more interesting over the next two years.

Now, both Americans have their eyes on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Lyles is already an Olympic champion, while Taylor has made LA28 one of his major goals. If both make the U.S. Olympic team, the teenager who once broke Lyles’ high school record could find himself racing the Olympic champion again, this time on the biggest stage in the sport.