The Athletics Illustrated Person of the Week honours for the week of August 3, 2020, goes to American sprinter Noah Lyles. Lyles, one of the currently fastest sprinters in the world with bests of 9.86 100m, 19.50 200m, and a 400m best of 47.04, publicly stated to the BBC that fellow American sprinter Christian Coleman
“must show responsibility over missed tests.”
Lyles, 23, said it “hurt” that Coleman’s violations could weaken the United States relay team’s chances at the Tokyo Olympics.
“It hurts because we want to go to Tokyo and aim for the world record.”
- Listen to the full interview with Noah Lyles here. and on Sport Today on BBC World Service at 19:30 BST on Monday, 3 August
Coleman could be banned for two years by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) after it was revealed in June that he missed three tests during 2019. (Noah Lyles: Christian Coleman must show responsibility over missed tests, BBC.com Aug. 2, 2020)
The Athletics Illustrated Person of the Week recognition is an endeavour that aims to recognise noteworthy or newsworthy achievements, actions or events in the sport of athletics by individuals who are involved or have affected the sport in some way.
The weekly decision will be the discretion of Athletics Illustrated, however, input from readers is welcome.
At the end of each year, the Person of the Week honours will be reviewed and featured along with a Person of the Year recognition taken from the list of weekly honours.
If you feel someone should be recognised, please register, login, and provide the person’s name and reason.
