J’can experience was the start of something great for 2023 – Lyles

World 200 metres champion Noah Lyles says that his first Jamaican competition experience along with his meeting with sprinting legend Usain Bolt was the catalyst for a season that he hopes will end with back-to-back world titles.

The American was speaking in a pre-World Championships call last Thursday, with two weeks to go before the championships in Budapest, Hungary.

Lyles is currently the fastest man in the world this year having clocked 19.47 seconds at a Diamond League meet last month. In a season where he has set high standards for himself, the table was set for this run at the Racers Grand Prix in June and competing in Jamaica for the first time.

While the nerves were there, Lyles said that the moment was a seminal one, believing it was the start of a significant 2023 campaign, similar to how the great Jamaican male sprinters started at the National Stadium.

“I was kind of nervous, not going to lie, going to basically Usain Bolt’s stomping ground and going to a home of track and field where there have been many greats. I remember they were taking us down to the 200m start and they had gone down the hallway and through the stairs and I was like dang. So many rivalries and great races have started with that whole pathway, Usain, Yohan (Blake) and Asafa (Powell) walking down to start this amazing race, that it all started with this pathway, it is kind of fun,” Lyles said. “Because sometimes you don’t really get to stop and look around and be like, this could be the start of a significant moment. And I feel that’s what kind of Jamaica started it out as. This is the start of a significant moment as we move into the 2023 season.”

It was only his second 200m race of the campaign but he made a statement, clocking 19.67 for victory, at the time a world lead. But the moment was elevated when Bolt and Lyles met on the track and Bolt encouraged him to keep the personality that has put him in the spotlight along with his performance. It is something that Lyles says has been lacking since Bolt left the stage in 2017.

“(Bolt) said to keep doing what you are doing. There are a lot of people who I could definitely feel don’t like the things I do but at the same time, it doesn’t matter because I feel like I can push the narrative of the sport in a better direction than I have seen it being done in quite a few years,” Lyles said. “One of the things that hurt me is that when Usain was here, we weren’t able to utilise him as best as he could. He did a great job winning medals and being a personality but now that people saw what can be done with a personality, let’s not take that for granted again.” Lyles said.

While in training he called the progress and reaction in training as frightening given the potential of what can be achieved, Lyles is focused on the title itself, not the world record.

“Coach and I have looked at each other quite often and said, yeah this is getting really scary multiple times this year. And I think after London it really kind of like ... this is really about to happen. By the time we get to the championships that would be my sixth race. That throws a lot more pressure than any other year. But getting the gold comes before running a fast time,” Lyles said.

daniel.wheeler@gleanerjm.com