The fact that Noah Lyles can run fast has never been up for debate. But slow starts have long been his Achilles’ heel. He earned sprinting’s ultimate crown when he became the Olympic 100m champion in Paris. Yet even that iconic race, where he edged out Kishane by just 0.005 seconds, Lyles was dead last through the first 40m. His 0.178s reaction time was tied with Letsile Tebogo for the slowest in the field. Thus, when he came out of the blocks slowly once again at the 2026 Seiko Grand Prix, every eye in the stadium noticed, and Lyles had to explain.

They weren’t the only ones, as Lyles himself noticed the fact that his reaction time of 0.177 was the slowest among all nine runners in his 100m season opener. Yet, that didn’t seem to matter as he surged forward, hitting his stride just after the halfway mark and winning the race. However, his start drew questions, and Lyles offered a straightforward explanation.

“I wasn’t really getting a good vibe on my back foot placement, but sometimes you’ve just got to say, forget it, don’t worry about it,” Lyles said as per France 24. “Just run the race and do your best.”

That’s exactly what he ended up doing, finishing the 100m in 9.95 seconds. That’s well off his personal best of 9.79 (+1.0), but for Lyles, it’s one of his fastest season opener times, as he himself attested to.

“I’d say it’s a really good season opener. I’d say my fastest season opener is 9.86, but this might be like my third or fourth fastest season opening,” Lyles explained. “So it’s a really good sign for the rest of the year, and I’ve been training really well. It was well worth the journey.”

And at the Seiko Grand Prix, it was a good enough time for him to win another gold medal. The newly married track superstar finished ahead of Tate Taylor (10.04) and Jake Odey-Jordan (10.09) for what ended up being a comfortable win. But there was some chatter around his decision to compete in the heats earlier in the day.

“I decided to do both rounds because there’s no way I’m letting everybody warm up in one round and then I’ll be able to come into the finals cold,” Lyles asserted in an interview.

“That’s crazy, that’s like giving everybody a head start. I should be able to do the same thing. I think it’s crazy that at first they thought I wouldn’t want to run both rounds. I’m here to compete first! And I’m here to run fast throughout the whole competition.”

Slow starts have been an issue plaguing Lyles since the start of his career. When he first turned pro in 2017, he faced similar struggles to fly out of the blocks. But he addressed them after working with biomechanist Ralph Mann to apply better physics to his blocks by intentionally pressing his hands backward against the block to create tension and turn his body into a coiled spring.

However, the issue arose in Tokyo again as he returned after a long break. Before the Tokyo race, his last competitive 100m race was in September 2025 at the National Stadium. That was in Tokyo, once again, where Lyles ended up walking away from the 2025 World Championships with two golds and a bronze medal.

The bronze was in the 100m, where the 28-year-old clocked 9.89, finishing behind Oblique Seville (9.77) and Kishane Thompson (9.82). Having finally opened his outdoor season, Noah Lyles faces tough competition up next. The American sprinter will take part in the Rome Diamond meet, where he’ll line up alongside Jordan Anthony and Marcell Jacobs.

Following that, he’ll battle Gout Gout in a 150m showdown in Ostrava, Czechia. The latter has already made a lot of noise this season, especially as Lyles’ training partner.

Noah Lyles opens up on training with Gout Gout

Ever since Gout Gout broke the U20 world record in the 200m, his name has been all over the headlines. The teenage phenom has drawn comparisons to sprinting great Usain Bolt, someone whose record Noah Lyles recently broke. The 28-year-old American became the first man since Bolt to win four titles in the 200m in 2025, when he won gold at worlds. It marks another hurdle for Gout to chase after, although the Australian is doing that by training with Lyles.

As a part of the same sponsor, the two sprinters have been training together ahead of a showdown at the Ostrava Golden Spike in June. It’ll mark the first time that Noah Lyles will run the 150m officially, and the excitement is palpable. It does make things interesting for Lyles, who is currently acting as Gout’s teacher despite the upcoming race.

“Gout, he’s a really good kid. He came over to train with us last year for about two weeks and then did the same thing this year,” Lyles said, as per Olympics.com.

“I’m just teaching as much as I can in two weeks. He absorbs a lot of information, and he wants to be the best. He’s eager – and that’s really good to see, and it’s really fun to see that youthful spirit again.”

“It’s really nice to know that the people coming up are really excited to want to obtain high, high goals and achievements,” he added.

Instead of a warning sign, the sluggish start in Tokyo reminded Noah Lyles that months are needed to build championship form. Yet even while still ironing out flaws in his own race, the Olympic champion is already helping shape the next generation. Only time will tell how that plays out.