In 2016, a young high school sprinter decided to abandon his chance to go to college and join the Florida Gators to bolster his track career. Instead, he chose to turn professional right after high school with his brother and signed a deal with Adidas. Today, he received his third Athlete of the Year Award and is known to all and sundry as Noah Lyles.

The 6x world champion bagged the annual honor from World Athletics for his galactic performances. The athlete is well-known for vanquishing asthma and dyslexia to reach his current stature. But what are the accolades he added to his resume in 2023? As the best year of his career comes to an end, here’s a rundown of Noah Lyles and his exploits of 2023.

The Budapest conquest at the World Athletics Championship

Noah Lyles wreaked havoc at the 2023 World Athletics Championship in Budapest. He entered the maiden WAC hosted by the Hungarian capital as the defending 200m champion and clinched three gold medals. His iconic pose with three fingers as he completed his three-peat is still one of his highest-grossing images.

Noah Lyles claimed the gold medal in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m dashes at the WAC. While this took his world championship gold medal tally to six, it also added a blazing controversy to his resume. Noah Lyles took a dig at the NBA players for calling themselves world champions despite only excelling at the US national league. 

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The statement of Noah Lyles where he says “World Champion of what?” drew both fame and notoriety depending on who you asked. While this put several NBA players, sports analysts, and celebrities against him, he also received support from a former NBA MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo, as well as World Athletics. While Lyles excelled at the World Championship, he also boasted a near-perfect record in the Wanda Diamond League meets.

The near-perfect Diamond League quest of Noah Lyles

Noah Lyles had won a total of five Diamond League gold medals prior to 2023. This year, Lyles competed in three Diamond League meets, all of them holding a special significance. While he broke Usain Bolt’s world record of the highest number of sub-20 finishes in the 200m category in London, he extended his Budapest dominance in Zurich.

Noah Lyles had announced the Zurich meet as his final run of the season. However, he returned for a 100m dash in Eugene after skipping the meets at Xiamen and Brussels. But, Lyles got bested by compatriot Christian Coleman on home soil and paid the price for being 0.02 seconds slower than his personal best of 9.83s. While he couldn’t win the final race of 2023, he definitely uplifted track and field with his contributions throughout the year.

The personal endeavors of Noah Lyles and his contribution to track and field

Noah Lyles almost single-handedly brought a lot of limelight to track and field. The 26-year-old constantly involved himself with his fans and different forms of media. 2023 saw him walking the ramp at the Milan Fashion Week, becoming an analyst, getting invited to podcasts, and signing a deal with Netflix.

Noah Lyles actively promoted track and field athletes to build themselves as a brand and attract sponsorships. Lyles’ best 200m time of 19.52 seconds was short of his personal best of 19.31 seconds. However, he ran his fastest in Budapest’s 100m dash, clocking 9.83 seconds. While his professional resume got a lot of additions in 2023, his personal resume also received a major boost. 

“I Need Time”: Emotional Noah Lyles Struggles to Express His Feelings After Winning Athlete of the Year Award

Noah Lyles got the approval of several Jamaican fans as the future husband of his girlfriend, Junelle Bromfield. Lyles landed several Jamaican dance moves while grooving on the beats of a popular Jamaican song, winning the hearts of Bromfield’s home country. Will Noah Lyles be able to carry his momentum in 2024 and finally add Olympic gold medals to his shelves in Paris?

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