Noah Lyles has never been quiet about who he is on the track. His bragging, big promises, and loud pre-race actions often split opinion. For some, it feels like confidence; for others, it is too much. Even after the Paris 200m, where Letsile Tebogo won gold, he later made remarks about Lyles’ personality, saying, “I’m not a loud or arrogant person like Noah.” That was seen as sarcasm. But not everyone is distracted by Lyles’ pre-race routine. Christian Coleman, a former world champion, sees it differently as he recently revealed Lyles’ strategy.

Lyles is often seen going beyond standard warm-ups. His pre-race habit includes explosive hops, bouncing on the toes, and extremely high jumps. And those very high jumps at times look like he is trying to jump out of his lane. Some fans see it as confidence, while others describe it as “wasted energy.” The same topic came up on the Bodega Track show on YouTube, where Christian Coleman joined host Bruce McAvaney.

Host Bruce McAvaney asked Coleman, “Noah Lyles, when he jumps around at the start, does it drive you mad or do you think, ‘Oh boy, I wish I could jump that high?’” Coleman did not hesitate in his response. “When I get out there, I don’t see anybody but me,” he said. “I look at those things, those are just tactics… to throw you off your game.”

As Coleman says, “And so I’ve been around Noah a long time to be able to notice just like you know he’s doing these things to like bolster himself to make himself larger than life and also get you to look at him and you know get you to just throw you off your game a little bit.”

Coleman, who has spent years on the track, understands those patterns deeply. His career started in track and field at an early age, initially participating in school-level competitions and slowly progressing in his career. In 2017, he became a professional and was noticed for one particular thing: the fastest start and reaction time in the world. In 2018 and 2019, he already competed against great sprinters such as Justin Gatlin and Andre De Grasse.

His career peaked in the 2019 season, when many saw him as the fastest man in the world at that moment. He won the World Championship 100m in Doha with a time of 9.76 seconds, the fastest in the world that year. He also took gold in the 4x100m relay with the United States team. During that stretch, talk of him being a possible successor in the post-Bolt era started to grow.

With all that experience, Coleman reads race-day behavior in a simple way. In his eyes, Lyles’ big movements are not random. They are a way to build himself up, create presence, and pull attention onto himself while trying to unsettle others.

Both athletes came into the pro scene around the same era, but in different ways. Lyles turned professional in 2016, straight out of high school with Adidas. Coleman followed in 2017 after his NCAA breakout. Since then, they have crossed paths many times on the track.

Coleman often says sprinting is not just physical; it is also mental. “Like you say, like when we get out there, like it’s a chess match, but it’s all about just like how confident you can be in yourself to get yourself to be locked in to do what you need to do.”

He also made it clear that every athlete has their own way of preparing. “Everybody has their own strategies, everybody has their own tactics, and everybody has their own game. .. I’ve been around the sport a long time. I’ve been around Noah a long time, too, to be able to know, like, what exactly he’s doing. And so when I get out there, I have my own strategy. I have my tactics, too. And so I just try to focus on myself.”

Unlike Lyles, Coleman’s pre-race habit is quiet and controlled. No hype or emotions are visible. His warm-ups are geared towards repeated block starts, explosive starts over 10-30 meters, reaction work, and quick and intense efforts to hone his start. 

This is the difference that feeds directly into the way their races play out, especially when the pressure is on them.

Noah Lyles and Christian Coleman are trading wins in a tight sprint battle

The competition between Noah Lyles and Christian Coleman is never loud and certainly not personal. Things really picked up between them in 2024, especially indoors. At the USA Indoor Championships in the 60m, Lyles just got ahead of Coleman, running 6.43 to 6.44. It was so close that it came down to a single step.

A few weeks later, at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Coleman answered back. He ran 6.41 to win gold, while Lyles finished second again in 6.44. That back and forth made it clear neither of them had a real hold over the other in short races.

Then came the outdoor season. Lyles secured a victory to qualify for the Paris Olympics at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in the 100m. Coleman finished fourth, but did not qualify.

Their rivalry is made interesting by the fact that they run in completely different ways. Coleman usually hits first. His start is sharp, and he tries to control the race early, especially in the first 30 meters. Lyles runs it differently. He builds into the race and often looks stronger as it goes on.

Even their personal bests show how close they are. Coleman’s 9.76 from 2019 is still one of the fastest times ever run. Lyles has gone 9.79 and turned that into Olympic gold in Paris 2024.

This competition is not about drama or clashing of egos in the end. This is truly a matter of timing.