After the 4th 200m World title, Noah Lyles said in an interview, “The future of sprinting is hazy right now. There is so much talent, there is so much room for growth, and there are so many new personalities coming up, but I feel the way that the sport is right now, nobody knows which direction to go in.” Talking of his last race, he said it would be at his own track meet, where he would be able to do any and everything that he wants. But what after then? What future does track and field have after its biggest showman hangs up the spikes?

“Even if he just went away tomorrow and retired, what would be the future of sprinting? That is the question. Because the sprinting community has always been looking for the next meal ticket, the next guy who we can hang our hat on, the next superstar who everybody can pay attention to. Usain Bolt carried that mantle for a while. And before he did, we were kind of in a zone where we didn’t have that guy,” said Track and Field coach Rob in his latest YouTube video. He talked of how, before Bolt, there was Justin Gatlin for a while.

Gatlin won Olympic gold in 2004 and double world titles in 2005, but after equaling the 100m world record in 2006, he was banned for doping, stepping aside as Usain Bolt rose; he later made a remarkable comeback, winning medals and even beating Bolt to the 2017 world title. “Other than that, like we went from whether it was Carl Lewis, Maurice Green, like there was always a guy, a guy who dominated for a stretch of time where everybody else was, for the most part, running for second place. It doesn’t mean that you can’t beat them once. But the idea that you’re going to continue to beat them, that is not what happened,” he said.

Carl Lewis and Maurice Greene have been the dominating athletes of their time. Lewis set the world record time of 9.86s in the 100m at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo and won Olympic sprint gold medals in 1984 (100m and 200m). Greene set a 100m world record of 9.79s in 1999, and won 100m world titles in 1997 (Athens), 1999 (Seville), and 2001 (Edmonton). He won as well the 100m/200m/4x100m triple in Seville 1999. “If the sport doesn’t have a Noah Lyles, because if it doesn’t have him, you don’t have a Usain Bolt, or for that matter, any of the other names I just mentioned, where does that actually put sprinting?” Rob asked.

Both Bolt and Lyles are faces of track and field of their times. Bolt set the record for the 100m (9.58s) and 200m (19.19). Gaining stardom brought more light to the sport itself. Lyles, in some way, is on the same path, through controversies or performances – he keeps himself on the tongue of the public. But if any other athlete, who is not as popular as they are, takes the medal, they might be forgotten in time. Rob gave Ramil Guliyev’s example for this, the Turkish athlete who won the 2017 200m World Title in 20.09s. Bolt was not racing that year as Lyles was still in school. But not a lot of people know Guliyev. Reason being?

“There wasn’t any record-setting times. If you go back and look at the results, hardly anybody that year was breaking 20 at the world championships in that event,” the track and field coach said. The American and the Jamaican have clocked multiple sub-20s, especially when they have been in the finals of any Olympics or World Championships.

Noah Lyles’ impact on track and field

“To be honest, I feel that if you watch me, you’ll see a show every time,” Noah Lyles said in an interview, and that is what sums him up. From pre-race shenanigans to post-race celebrations, he has been a showman, and that in itself brings a lot of attention to the sport. Sometimes, the fans like it; sometimes, they don’t. Take the 2025 World Athletics Championships, for example. In the semifinals of the 200m, the defending champion was making his anime protagonist entry into the race.

When the camera moved to him, he crouched, feet apart, one hand on the ground, the other on his knee. His head rose, eyes sharp, a crooked grin flashing. Slowly, he stood back up, with the crooked grin still on his face, and then he let out a roar. This was the Gear Second pose. For those who do not know, In Gear Second, Luffy (protagonist of One Piece anime) pumps his blood at an accelerated rate to increase his speed and strength, and his body emits steam. Now, One Piece fans must have come across this, and there must be curiosity about who this guy is or let’s check this race out and more.

And this is not the only way. Back in 2023, when he was asked what he wanted to do for track and field, that the medals he wins are the first step to raising track’s awareness in the public eye. But then, he took a potshot at the NBA when he said, “World champion of what? The United States? Don’t get me wrong, I love the U.S. at times. But that ain’t the world. We are the world. Almost every country is out here fighting and putting on their flag to be represented. There ain’t no flags in the NBA.” A highly controversial statement that led to ripples among netizens.

But on the flip side of the coin, it did bring in reactions from big names like Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Damian Lillard, Aaron Gordon, and others, which did divert the basketball community to check out who Noah Lyles is, and maybe out of spite, they might have watched the Paris 100m finals as well. What’s your opinion of the 200m World Champion?