© Copyright – 2024 – Athletics Illustrated
Six-time World Athletics Championships gold medallist and Olympic bronze medallist Noah Lyles has had is contract extended with adidas and it is rich. The agreement includes the 2024 Paris Olympic Games as well as the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games. The agreement includes a commitment to his sport and persona, however, the fine details were not available at press time.
Honored to be nominated for @LaureusSport World Sportsman of the Year! pic.twitter.com/yUcRLQcSY8
— Noah Lyles, OLY (@LylesNoah) February 26, 2024
“When I first signed with adidas in 2016 along with my brother, Josephus, that was like a dream come true for us. And today is just a continuation of that childhood dream. Adidas is not only taking care of me and my family at a level I could only imagine, but they understand me and my vision – not only do I want to achieve all I can in this sport both on and off the track, but I want to make real change and improvements in the sport and how it’s run for the generations that come after me. That is what drives me.”
Lyles currently holds two national records. The 26-year-old has clocked the all-time fastest 200-metre time outdoors at 19.31 during the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, OR at Hayward Field. He was also part of the 4 x 100m relay team that set the US record at 37.10 during the 2019 World Athletics Championships that took place in Doha, Qatar.
Lyles’ notoriety
Lyles has recently grabbed attention when he asked “Where the hell is Eugene, Oregon?” And, when he disagreed that the NBA championships is the World Championships. He was not wrong on both accounts and did his sport a favour by asking relevant questions.
He came under fire from National Basketball Association (NBA) players for saying that he disagreed with the NBA league championships referring to itself as a world championships. During the social media melee that ensued, the FIBA Basketball World Cup was taking place and the US — stacked with NBA players — was knocked out of the gold medal game by Germany, then subsequently knocked out of the medals by Canada — the country of origin of the game.
Lyles’ hometown of Gainesville is where Gatorade was invented.
Of course, Lyles was being facetious and rhetorical when he asked where the hell Eugene was. He was implying, if you will, that the Diamond League finalé, should be hosted in a major US city, perhaps like Los Angeles or New York.
