Noah Lyles has told internet sensation iShowSpeed what he needs to sacrifice if he is to stand a chance of making the 2028 Olympics as well as beat other athletes even as he eyes taking on Sha’Carri Richardson.
Reigning Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles has issued a stark reality check to internet sensation Darren Watkins Jr., better known as iShowSpeed, on what it would take for him to even make the trials for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Watkins, an Ohio native and one of the most followed streamers globally, has publicly expressed his desire to compete at LA 2028.
Known for his blazing speed in short-distance sprints, which inspired his online pseudonym, he previously raced Lyles in a 50m sprint in November 2024 but lost.
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Despite that, Lyles remains supportive of Watkins’ Olympic ambitions and has even offered to help train him. Speaking on the Beyond The Records podcast, Lyles responded to a question from popular YouTuber MrBeast about what it would take for Watkins to reach the Olympic trials.
The three-time world champion broke down the grueling demands of an elite sprinting regimen.
“It is an amateur sport. Anyone can participate as long as you got the time to do it,” Lyles explained.
“I think we could potentially get him to the trials for sure. But he would definitely have to sacrifice a lot. The time he spends streaming and weightlifting—he would be sore constantly. We are going to be putting him in positions where he would lose a lot, but you just have to lose.”
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Lyles then detailed what a typical training schedule for an Olympic sprinter looks like, warning that the weight room component would be a major challenge.
“He would probably train from 9-11, then I’d let him get lunch. After that, he’d hit the weight room, which is what really hits hard—that would be at least an hour and a half, maybe two, depending on how his body adapts. The weight room throws everybody off. You could train for days, but track and field isn’t like other sports.”
Using basketball legends Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant as a contrast, Lyles emphasized how track athletes can’t simply put in extra reps without serious consequences.
“In basketball, Jordan and Kobe would get in early and do free throws for three hours before practice. You can’t do that in track. Your body can only handle so much before it needs to recover.
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“If you’re not recovering properly, you’re not getting the right quality of work. Everything starts going backward instead of forward, and that’s really hard for people to understand.”
Earlier this month, Olympic sprint relay champion Sha’Carri Richardson also addressed Watkins’ Olympic ambitions.
After meeting him at the Super Bowl flag football game on February 8, where he was playing, Watkins proposed a race against the Paris 2024 gold medalist. However, Richardson turned the tables by challenging him to endure a full track workout first.
“Before we race, I got to teach you how to be a sprinter first,” Richardson told Watkins. “You come down for a day, you do my entire workout, and after that, we can set something up. But you got to do what I do first before we race. You got to be a track athlete first before a race.”
With two of the world’s fastest sprinters breaking down the sheer intensity required to reach the Olympic stage, Watkins now faces the ultimate question: Is he ready to sacrifice everything to chase his 2028 Olympic dream?
