It’s not even been a month, and the Grand Slam Track has already been awesome for showing the sheer dominance of the track and field athletes. Don’t believe us? Just look at the finals of the 100m. With the track full of big names like Fred Kerley and Ackeem Blake, the event was bound to be sensational. But by the time the dust settled, we had seen one of the dominant performances of recent times. While opponents like Blake (9.85s) and Oblique Seville (9.84s) impressed, the winner really stole the spotlight. So much so that one track legend even took their time to warn the great Noah Lyles.

The man in question is none other than Kung Fu Kenny, Kenny Bednarek. With his sensational performance, he completely dominated on day 1 of Kingston. But he wasn’t done just yet, as the next day, with a time of 19.84 seconds, he took the 200m title home as well. Now, the track ninja does share some history with the self-proclaimed Fastest Man on the Planet. So it’s no surprise that a few track legends also showed their interest in this.

In the recent episode of the Beyond the Records podcast, the duo of track pundits Justin Gatlin and Rodney Green took their time to give their thoughts on the possible rivalry in motion. “Kung Fu Kenny Bernard. And I’mma just whisper this, and I know he’s listening,” Rodney Green leaned into the mic and whispered with an innocent mischief on his face, “Noah, where are you at? That boy is looking for you, Noah.”

The rivalry between Noah Lyles and Kenny Bednarek in the 200 meters has been a defining narrative in U.S. sprinting over recent years. While Lyles has generally maintained an edge, Bednarek has consistently challenged him, leading to a series of closely contested races and mutual respect. Their head-to-head encounters began at the 2020 “Back to the Track” meet, where Lyles clocked 19.94 seconds to Bednarek’s 20.19.

In Tokyo, Bednarek reversed the outcome, securing silver in 19.68 seconds, while Lyles took bronze with 19.74 seconds. “That boy out there torching the track, man, doing his thing, man. With that track and the competitors and watching Kenny, I knew a 980 or 970 was coming,” Green said as he once again sat down with track and field legend, Justin Gatlin, in the recent episode of Ready Set Go. Kenny covered the 100m at GST in 9.79 seconds.

“Once he gets in the top end and he starts to lift,  that boy looks like he’s stepping on egg crates. After he comes out of his transition, if you are not with him and have enough top end, cancel Christmas on it,” he continued. True that, even in the GST, nobody looked like a threat to him once he got into his full stride. Now, how could Gatlin not help himself and jump into this conversation?

He said, “The Grand Slam is made for people like Kenny because he has such a big engine already, he does not get tired.” During 2021, Bednarek ran the most sub-20 performances over 200 meters, both for wind-legal conditions and all conditions, of any athlete in a single season, with 12 total sub-20 performances, of which 10 were wind-legal. Gatlin also answered the question of where Noah was.

He said, “And to ask, where was Noah? Noah is actually at a race. He was actually at the Formula One race in Miami too, coincidentally.” Noah Lyles attended the 2025 Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix, held at the Miami International Autodrome. During the event, he experienced a high-speed lap in a Mercedes-AMG F1 car alongside Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas, sharing his excitement on Instagram and describing the experience as potentially “very addictive.”

If you’re wondering, Oscar Piastri clinched victory at the 2025 Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix, leading a dominant McLaren one-two finish ahead of teammate Lando Norris. Getting back on the rubber tracks. Gatlin once again donned that mischievous smile of his and said, “ That boy is watching, listening, got somebody telling him something, and his phone is on. He heard about it. Trust me.”

But did he? That’s for the closed sources and Noah to tell. But what are the chances that Noah Lyles might show up at the Grand Slam Track?

Noah Lyles showing up at Grand Slam Track…what do we know?

“Until I see a TV sponsor, I can’t make a decision. Being the Olympic champion, I’ve already come in with a lot of accolades and a lot of things where I don’t need monetary value, but I need marketing value.” These were the earliest words of Noah Lyles back when the Grand Slam Track was being introduced. As of now, GST has secured major TV partnerships with The CW (U.S.), Peacock (streaming), and Warner Bros. Discovery (Europe/Asia), along with sponsors like Rekortan (track provider) and Stats Perform (data and analytics).

So, can we see Noah? It’s not that simple. Another statement by the man read, “The scheduling is very odd, in my opinion, especially from a marketing standpoint. If I go on the Jimmy Fallon [show], I say I’m the 100m and 200m Grand Slam champion, the crowd is gonna be like, ‘oh nice,’ and then Grant Holloway comes on the next day, and he’s like, I’m the 100-110 hurdles Grand Slam champion. Wait, Noah just said he’s the 100m Grand Slam champion, and you are also the 100m Grand Slam champion; how does that work?”

But wait, it does not end here. Noah has also said, “If everything lines up, I’d love nothing but for this to be successful because if it does, the amount of benefits that it could provide could be a way for athletes to not only have to rely on the World Championships cause you could potentially be making more money consistently throughout the year. This would be able to provide a home for sponsors in the US to come to and a consistent place for people to watch track and field.”

So for a stance? Noah does have a neutral stance on GST, but he is only willing to participate in the competition if the marketing of it convinces him enough. Personal and logistical issues have also contributed to Lyles’ hesitation. So the answer to that question remains no for now? But what do you think? Will Noah Lyles eventually show up in Grand Slam Track?