“That man was panicking in the back, but he’s a gamer, so hopefully he will get it back and we will have a great final,” Noah Lyles said about Oblique Seville after the Jamaican stumbled out of the blocks in the 100m Heat in Tokyo last month. Just days later, Seville stormed the track with a blistering 9.77s, seizing 100m gold and capping off his season in spectacular fashion. With this, Seville not only ended Jamaica’s gold drought in the 100m but also reignited a thrilling rivalry with Lyles, even tossing playful jabs at the 200m world champion barely a month after their clash.

On October 15, the newly crowned 100m champion sat down with Coach Desk on his YouTube podcast for a candid conversation. During the episode, Seville boldly claimed that Noah Lyles might never beat him again. “I analyze myself as an athlete, you know, because I can literally—I don’t study athletes, but I know about sports. Yeah. For me, just put it this way: if I have a Kishane start and Noah Lyles finish, think about it,” said Seville.

He further added, “Exactly. So I don’t have to say anything more, which is why Noah Lyles is going to be hard to beat me. Because if you can check the analysis of the race, breaking it down—yeah—my start is very fast, and then my finish is equivalent to Noah Lyles’s finish, so he’s not going to catch me.” And Seville has the stats to back his claims.

In this season, Oblique Seville and Noah Lyles have faced off three times, and on every single occasion, Seville came out on top. In the Lausanne Diamond League, Oblique Seville edged out Noah Lyles, by clocking 9.87 seconds, while Lyles finished behind with a time of 10.02 seconds. In the London Diamond League, Seville ran 9.86 seconds, with Lyles finishing in 10.00 seconds. Finally, at the Tokyo World Championships, Seville left Lyles in his wake to lift the 100m crown.

On the other hand, Lyles kicked off his season unusually late in July, well after many of his rivals were already in peak form. Opening up about his injuries ahead of the World Championships, Lyles revealed, “Uh, it, it was inflammation to the joint. It was a situation. To be honest, it was just a freak accident. There’s no way we could have predicted it would have happened, and it sucked to have it.” 

Yet, despite the delayed start, he still clinched the 200m world title in Tokyo. Interestingly, Coach Rob also shared his insights to give the benefit of the doubt to Noah Lyles.

Oblique Seville gets a reality check against Noah Lyles and Kenny Bednarek

Recently, Coach Rob and Anderson Emerole sat down to discuss the latest developments in the sport. During their conversation, Rob made it clear that Seville’s title didn’t signal the end of the race; his rivals were still very much in contention, poised to challenge his dominance in the near future. Emerole echoed this sentiment, highlighting just how tight and fiercely competitive the field remains.

“He ran 9.7, the other guys ran 9.8. So, it was a sizable enough win where it’s like, all right, he convincingly won, but the other guys are still close enough, and it’s still kind of up in the air, like, okay, Kishane could come back and win a gold medal at some point. ‘Cause let’s not forget Oblique—this is the fourth time that Oblique has been in the final,” said Anderson Emerole.

Rob chimed in, noting that while Seville undoubtedly has the talent, consistency remains the true test. “Oblique’s gifted—we all know that. But when we talk about racking up multiple golds, leaving Noah and the others aside, we’re stepping into the realm of the past 20 to 30 years. To dominate at that level, you need more than talent; you need what I call a skill gap—a whole different dimension of ability.” 

With the 100m gold wrapped around his neck, the athlete is certainly confident about his endeavor, but will he be able to continue with that steam? Time will tell.