Despite Considered Threat, Noah Lyles Handpicks Favorite Letsile Tebogo’s Record Ahead Of Paris Olympics 2024

Letsile Tebogo became the first man to break the 20-second mark in the 200m in 2024 when he crossed the finishing line first at the ASA Grand Prix III only hours ago, clocking 19.94 in Johannesburg. With that, Noah Lyles‘ hopes for his maiden Olympic gold just might become more shaky than ever before. Lyles is currently the top-ranked sprinter in both 100 and 200m events in the world. And yet, the 26-year-old seems to hold high regard for his international colleagues who can potentially hinder him from realizing the dream of four gold medals in Paris later this year.

With the 2024 Olympics around the corner, Noah Lyles is leaving no stone unturned in his quest for the maiden gold on the grand stage. Winning both the 100m and 200m events at the 2023 World Championships, Lyles bolstered his claims to dethrone the world’s fastest man Usain Bolt, but things might not be so easy with several tough competitors standing on his way to the top.

Noah Lyles makes his pick

In a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), the six-time World Championships gold medalist Noah picked out his favorite among Tebogo’s records. Commenting under the original post by NBC Sports Director of Social Media Travis Miller, Lyles asserted which of Letsile’s performances wooed him the most. “Which of Letsile Tebogo’s season openers do you think is most impressive?” reads Miller’s post as it proceeds to list the options available, and Noah made his own views clear as daylight.

Among three options (200m, 300m, and 400m), Lyles chose the second as his favorite among Letsile’s season openers. In February this year, Tebogo ran an impressive 300m event at the Simbine Curro Classic Shoot-Out in Pretoria, clocking 30.69. While the course is a bit longer than Lyles’ own natural habitat, the American easily believes this non-Olympic event is where Letsile will make his mark.

While Tebogo won the ASA Grand Prix III 200m race, his personal best in the events stands at 19.50 set during the 2023 Diamond League in London. Earlier this year, Tebogo also shattered a long-standing African record in the men’s 400m event, when he clocked 44.49 in Pretoria. But he still has a long way to go if Lyles poses as his man to beat.

Lyles won’t give in without a fight

Noah Lyles’ personal best times are better than Tebogo’s in both the 100m and 200m events. At the 2023 World Championships, Lyles achieved his personal best of 9.83 in the 100m, winning gold (the same event where Tebogo recorded his own best in the event and finished second with 9.88), while his 200m record stands tall at 19.31, attained at the 2022 World Championships. Understandably, it can be understood that Lyles currently holds the edge when it comes between the American and the rising star from Botswana, but Tebogo is looking to be finally settling into his shoes ahead of the Olympics.

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“Tebogo is going to turn the 200-meter world upside down because now you have someone who is maturing into his events“, said Olympic champion Justin Gatlin about Tebogo’s current form in an interview. With Lyles vowing to take over Usain Bolt’s seat as the fastest man alive, it waits to be seen if Tebogo can pull off a major upset from under the American sensation’s nose.

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