Noah Lyles opens up on ambitious target of clinching quadruple gold at Paris Olympics

ATHELTICS Noah Lyles opens up on ambitious target of clinching quadruple gold at Paris Olympics

Mark Kinyanjui 22:00 - 11.12.2023

The outspoken American athlete has insisted that he could have a go at the 4x400m category if his body will allow him to.

World 100m and 200m champion Noah Lyles has revealed he is open to taking part in the 4 by 400-meter relay race at the forthcoming 2024 Paris Olympics.

The outspoken American athlete has insisted that he will have a go at the discipline if only his body will be in a position to allow him to do it considering it will be the last category and he will have “nothing to lose”.

Speaking to World Athletics, Lyles has revealed that a conversation with a friend has gotten him into thinking he can try to win four gold medals, having won the 100-meter race despite debuting in the category last season to try and increase his speed for his more specialized category, the 200 meters.

“I was talking to a close friend and he's like: I already know you're going to win three golds at the Olympics,” Lyles revealed.

“I want you to win four. I remember when you were in high school, I watched you at Penn Relays go from second to last to first in the 4x400m, chasing down all those Jamaicans - there's your fourth medal.”

"I've never had somebody tell me something that has thrown my out-of-the-box thinking to inside-the-box, but that was like: okay, I'm not going to say no to that. 

“Because after what I did at Budapest and seeing what my body can handle, if I train for it, okay, let's take a shot. It's the last race, there's nothing to lose. If I'm in shape for it and I've trained for it all year, sure let's take a crack at it.

“If they allow me, if they need me and they are willing - let's go, let's take it." 

Lyles tried to have a go at the 100-meter race in 2023 because he thought it would give him a better chance of winning the World Male Athlete of the Year award.

The 26-year-old reaped the fruits of his labor by attempting the 100-meter race when he ran 9.83 to win the 100m gold before he went on to defend his 200m crown in Budapest.

With his two individual gold medals, added to the 4x100m relay crown won with Team USA, Lyles will be hoping to be crowned the Male Athlete of the Year in 2023.

Having proven that he can dominate a category he did not even specialise in, very few eyebrows will be raised at his consideration to try and dominate another category next year.

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