American sprinter Noah Lyles, the 200m gold medal winner at the ongoing IAAF World Championships, has literally got the world at his feet.
But life has not been easy for the world champion. He has had to fight overcome tough life situations as a child - ranging from health issues to disabilities. He fought back to mould his character and overcome those shortcomings and he took to athletics to fight back to overcome them.
“I’ve had a lot of different challenges through life and it’s shaped me into who I am now. I had chronic asthma, I had my tonsils removed at six. I had the learning disabilities and dyslexia. I was in the slow class at school because I had to learn to read differently,” the champion sprinter from USA told journalists.
Explaining further he said: “Mainstream school just wasn’t my strong suit. I got isolated at middle school. I’ve gone through periods of depression and I used track as an outlet. I tried to work on my character as much as I can, on always staying happy and loving what I do.”
“In high school I cried because I thought I was going to fail out of college and wouldn’t be able to run. My mum said, ‘You could go pro out of high school.’ And I said, ‘People don’t do that.’ Little did I know that I was going to be the first one,” he added.
Lyles, who won gold while completing his race in 19.83 seconds, said the 200m win on Tuesday went accordingly to the plan and he was sure about walking away with the top place.
“It was a lot closer than I thought it was going to be. I have run so many different races, from childhood, through youths, through juniors, where I have won from different positions – from the back of races, from the middle of races, from first. So I just knew I could pull out a win from any position. It’s those years of experiences that meant I could win.”
“I got one out of two, let’s put it like that. I got the gold, which was the number one part of the plan. A fast time was number of two. But if you try to force a fast time it won’t come. Another time I will have that moment. I was truthfully shooting for a 19.3,” he added.
Lyles said he is working on his start which will make him a better athlete.
“I’m still working on my start. I still believe I can get a better top-end speed. There are things I can strengthen. But on the right day, with the right conditions and the right training, hopefully a world record will pop up.
Lyles is not focused on creating world records but getting better.
“Out here people were talking about world records and I just wanted the gold. So it was just a lot of relief. World records aren’t the thing I’m chasing. I’m chasing to be better each day. World records come when you improve what you’re good at and take away what you’re bad at,” he said.
Lyles, who grew alongside some the best Olympians, as both his parents were track stars, initially wanted to be high jump champion but changed tracks.
“Me and my dad don’t talk all too much but he was actually my first coach. He was the person who got me into the sport. I came in to the sport because I wanted to be an Olympic high jump champion. Then I ran at his club from 12 to 15 and he taught me hard work and diligence, and pushing through boundaries.
“Both my parents were track stars and they introduced me to a world of track and field at a young age. I’ve been around Olympians my whole life, not knowing how great their achievements were.”
