Noah Lyles Joins Justin Gatlin In Elite List That’s Almost Out Of Reach For US Track & Field Stars

The 60 meters indoors, the 100 meters outdoors, and the 200 meters on the grand stage have long served as the full test of a sprinter’s range. Few have ever held national titles in all three. Even fewer have paired that achievement with a major championship doubles on the world stage. That lineage connects Maurice Greene to Justin Gatlin, Gwen Torrence, and now, Noah Lyles.

Greene, once the face of global sprinting, won the 100 meters and 200 meters at the 1999 World Championships and held a USA Indoor crown in the 60 meters. Gatlin followed with the sprint double at the 2005 World Championships, after opening his professional career with a 60-meter national title in 2003 and a world indoor gold in Birmingham two weeks later. Torrence, one of the most versatile sprinters of her era, claimed multiple national titles across 100 meters and 200 meters, along with three consecutive USA Indoor 60-meter victories in the mid-1990s. Her 21.77 in Gothenburg in 1995, run into a −2.2 headwind, might have added to that legacy had it not been erased by a disqualification for stepping on the line.

Now, that history belongs to Noah Lyles. His triumph in the 60 meters at the 2024 USA Indoor Championships completed the same rare national triple achieved by Greene, Gatlin, and Torrence. TRACK CHATS & STATS’ Instagram post captured the exclusivity of the group, “If my checks are correct, these are the only 4 athletes to win a USA title in the 60m indoors, plus a 100m and 200m title.” Capturing the exclusivity of that post, Justin Gatlin shared the same on his Instagram story. 

Now, to give you a little bit of something extra…

In July 2025, Lyles extended his domestic dominance by winning the 200 meters at the USA Championships in 19.63 seconds, his fifth national crown at the distance, tying the career mark of Michael Johnson and Ralph Metcalfe.

The details underscore the achievement. Lyles had already secured a 100-meter national title in 2018 with a time of 9.88 seconds, and his 9.79 to win Olympic gold in Paris in 2024 affirmed his standing at the distance. In the 200 meters, he has been unmatched for nearly a decade, with a record that places him alongside Johnson in American history. Indoors, his 6.43 in the 60 meters places him among the best performers of all time, close to Greene’s 6.39 and Gatlin’s 6.45. That range, spread across all three distances, is almost unmatched in American track and field.

A sneak peek at the predecessors?

Greene won the 100 meters at the 1997 and 2002 national championships and added a 200-meter title in 1993 with a time of 19.93. Gatlin secured his 200-meter crowns in 2005, 2015, and 2016, alongside his 100-meter and 60-meter titles. Torrence, dominant through the 1980s and 1990s, accumulated national championships across both outdoor sprints and indoors. And Lyles, still in his prime, has managed to stretch his impact across eras, with titles spanning 2018 to 2025.

What sets Lyles apart is his ability to align national dominance with global championships. He won the 100 and 200 meters at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest and followed with Olympic gold in the 100 meters in Paris. Greene and Gatlin had accomplished the same double in their prime. Torrence’s medal in the 200 meters slipped away in 1995, yet her career stood as a precursor to the versatility Lyles now displays.

The American tradition of sprint range has always been rare. Lyles has not only joined it but also ensured that the line of succession remains unbroken. And as Noah Lyles continues to achieve positions alongside legends, the ultimate track king, Usain Bolt, himself placed Nojo in his dream 100m lineup…

Usain Bolt reveals Noah Lyles is the one sprinter he wishes he could race

When asked to shape his dream 100-meter lineup, Bolt placed Noah Lyles in the company of the most decorated sprinters of history. The eight-time Olympic champion did not present this as a gesture of courtesy but as a declaration of genuine competitive interest. “I would definitely like to compete against Maurice Greene, Ben Johnson. Let’s give Noah the spot just because I would love to race against him,” Bolt remarked, leaving little doubt about the regard in which he held the newly crowned Olympic champion.

In selecting the field, Bolt summoned names that belonged to both his own generation and those whose careers shaped earlier eras: Justin Gatlin, Tyson Gay, Asafa Powell, Yohan Blake, Maurice Greene, and Ben Johnson. To that formidable collection, he added Lyles, a man whose recent triumph in Paris had sharpened his claim to the present sprint throne. For Bolt, the inclusion was not merely symbolic. It marked the acknowledgement that Lyles had entered a rarefied conversation, one where victories alone did not suffice unless paired with presence, personality, and the will to stand among the giants.

That Bolt openly wished to test himself against Lyles suggested more than admiration. It underscored how the Jamaican legend viewed the American sprinter as a rightful heir to the kind of rivalries that had defined his own prime. While dismissing the suggestion of Carl Lewis with a swift “Nah,” Bolt reserved his respect for an athlete who had recently declared himself “the world’s fastest man.”