US sprint king Noah Lyles has opened up on how his Jamaican rival Kishane Thompson forced him to change his pre-race antics after stealing a march on him at Paris Olympics.
American sprint king Noah Lyles and Jamaican Kishane Thompson served up a great matchup in the 100m at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Thompson came into the Games with the world’s fastest time while Lyles was the world champion and during the final, the race lived up to its billing, a close contest that was decided by just 0.005 seconds, the American having clocked 9.784, to the Jamaican’s 9.789.
While the two were meeting for the first time, Lyles admits Thompson stole a march on him just before the race, having used his pre-match stunt after coming out to the stadium ahead of him.
ai = d.createElement(‘script’);
ai.defer = true;
ai.async = true;
ai.src = v.location.protocol + o;
d.head.appendChild(ai);
})(window, document, ‘//a.vdo.ai/core/v-pulsesports-co-ke-v0/vdo.ai.js’);
The American says that added fuel to the fire as he was forced to quickly come up with something new and that is how he started jumping around the stadium to hype up the crowd before his two finals, the 100m and 200m.
The Olympics champions have opened up on the intrigues that make the Olympics Games look ‘stupid’ given what athletes put in for four years.
“I just started really doing that [jumping] in 2024,” Lyles said on the Beyond the Records podcast co-hosted by himself and fellow Olympics champions Grant Holloway and Rai Benjamin.
“Usually, what I did is what Kishane did. I usually came out and gave my Dragon Ball power up roar and he did it before I came out and I was like: ‘Ooh! Okay, cool, cool, cool, you can have that. I have got something better.’”
Lyles says part of the strategy from his coach has always been to have the fans on his side, enabling him to focus on his races better, and he is glad the crowd at the Stade de France in Paris responded in kind.
“Before I go out, my coach is like; ‘control the crowd and control the race’ and I am like nobody knows how to control the crowd like me. So, I am like if you want to go out and yell, that is cool,” he added.
)
Justin Gatlin has explained how Noah Lyles and Kishane Thompson’s common love for Japanese animation is shaping their track rivalry especially with the 2025 World Championships taking place in Tokyo.
“So, I am coming out during the walk out and the cameraman is trying to keep me at one spot and I am like; ‘Get out of the way, I am not here for you, I am here for the crowd.’ And I really see everyone is insane and the energy. Nobody comes to the crowd, why stay back there when you have this amazing energy right here.”
Lyles’ initial celebration was drawn from his love for Japanese animation Dragon Ball, one of his favorites, and while at the Olympics, it came to the fore that Thompson is also an avid fan of the same.
Thompson, who prefers a low profile, unlike Lyles’ larger than life persona, is considered to be the American sprinter’s main rival for the 100m this season and fans will be waiting for more off-the track antics from the pair just like their anticipated battles on it.
