Noah Lyles on opportunities in track: ‘Everybody has to prove their worth'
Yahoo Sports’ Callie Lawson-Freeman spoke to the American sprinter about the backlash he faced in running the 4x400 relay at the World Indoor Championships and how he deals with the hectic schedule of being the world’s fastest man. Noah joined Yahoo Sports on behalf of Celsius.
Video Transcript
CALLIE LAWSON-FREEMAN: You ran the four by four.
NOAH LYLES: Yeah.
CALLIE LAWSON-FREEMAN: Team USA got second. And people felt like maybe you shouldn't have been on it. You didn't directly address that. You said, I'm here, some other people aren't. And then you tweeted about the importance of being marketable. Do you stand by that response, or do you wish there was more that you would have said?
NOAH LYLES: To be honest, there's no need to be. There's no need to be. I was on it. Of course, there was many things I can say. But I think I'll take the words of somebody who is a previous Olympian and has run on many relays themselves. They said, no spot is deserved on the relay. No spot is safe. Everybody has to prove their worth. And I was no different. They took a chance on me. I felt that I have many accolades that show that I can run fast enough. And I felt that this was the meet where it was the lowest risk, but it was the highest stake situation for them to say, this is uncomfortable enough for him to be in a place where he's going to be put pressure on him, but also where, if we lose, we'll be OK. We'll know we can't use him again.
[LAUGHTER]
But I thank them very much for trusting in me. But I also-- this wasn't an in the moment situation. Did I know I was going to run? Not until a few hours before the finals. But I was committed to the idea that, no matter what, I'm going to show you I'm available. If you want to write the script, then you have to be marketable, and you have to be winning.
CALLIE LAWSON-FREEMAN: You have so much going on, from-- you just came off of World Indoor Championships in Glasgow. Now you're here, hosting a media day for a partnership with Celsius. And I'm just trying to figure out how it fits in. You have your YouTube channel--
NOAH LYLES: Yep.
CALLIE LAWSON-FREEMAN: --NBC docuseries, Netflix projects coming up. How does Celsius fit into all this? And how do you make time for it all?
NOAH LYLES: To be honest, I'm an energetic guy. [LAUGHS] So it only makes sense that I partner up with Celsius. And I mean, they said that they wanted to get into the Olympic space. And they wanted to get into track and field. And they felt that they needed the world's fastest man. And that's my title, the world's fastest man. So again, if they want to get into it and they want to get into it hard, if we align with the same goals, I feel that it's a beautiful partnership. We have that idea of wanting to chase dreams, reach for the stars. And I mean, come on. Everybody wants to be the world's fastest man!
[LAUGHTER]
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