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Noah Lyles Claps Back Against US Legend’s Critic of Track Athletes Not “Doing Anything Enjoyable”

Published 04/01/2024, 10:07 PM EDT

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Since the debate over “professional runners not eating sweets” has been resurfacing on the internet, track and field athletes have come forward to demonstrate their dessert addiction. The US’ most accomplished sprinter, Noah Lyles, and professional runner, Nikki Hiltz joined the force and expressed their love for sweets on X.

Noah Lyles responded to US retired sprinter Michael Johnson’s criticism of track athletes over the matter. Taking to his official X handle, 2020 Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist, Noah Lyles exhibited his dessert love, writing: “ I just had an ice cream cone last night.”

Taking to his official X account, Lululemon ambassador Nikki Hiltz shared a post about his sweet tooth, saying “I need at least 2 sweet treats every single day to survive.” To this, Olympic gold medalist Michael Johnson reacted by commenting, “Always been amazed how people want to believe we become the fastest people in the world from our superhuman ability to refrain from doing anything enjoyable! 😆”.

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Initially, Sabrina Little, 5-time national Champion, Trail & Ultra Runner, shared a post about sweet cravings, mentioning, “The ‘pro runners don’t eat sweets’ discourse is starting up again, so this is just a note to say that, throughout my running career, I didn’t eat cookies every day. But that’s only because I like cupcakes much better.”

This is not the first time Noah Lyles has stepped out to defend track athletes. He found himself in hot waters after he responded candidly to criticism for calling out basketball players.

Noah Lyles responds to the criticism

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After commenting about NBA winners calling themselves world champions, the regaining track star, Noah Lyles had to receive backlash. However, the 100 and 200-meter world champion clapped back at US basketball power forward Kevin Durant, and US basketball player Damian Lillard over their response.

After going over NBA players’ biggest achievements, Noah referred to them as champions of the US but not of the world. His statement caused a storm on the internet, sparking a big controversy over the issue.

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To be honest, I am just glad they were having the conversation, It has been an underline for so long and no one wanted to talk about it, “ Noah remarked at the time.

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Noah is known for his vocal nature and never shies away from supporting the track world. Once again by responding to US former sprinter legend Michael Johnson’s criticism of track athletes, he displayed his tenacity towards sports. He is now looking forward to clinching gold at the Paris Olympics 2024.

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Written by:

Shivangi Agrawal

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Shivangi Agrawal is an Olympic Sports writer at EssentiallySports who specializes in NCAA wrestling and swimming. She stepped into ES with 7 years of journalistic experience, having worked with prominent media entities like Network 18, where she worked as a Senior Copy Editor. With her coverage of icons like Kayla Miracle and A.
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Edited by:

Suman Varandani